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’*«.• ''ta 






Within Sea Wallsi 

OR, 

Houj the Dutch hept the Faith. 


BY 

•ELIZABETH H. WALSHE 

AND 

GEORGE E. SARGENT. 




BOSTON: 




' v 'L Of- WASHI^^,^ " 


PUBLISHED BY IRA BRADLEY & CO. 


162 Washington Street. 





4 



1 




I 




4 


Copyright, 1881, 

BY 


Ira Bradley & Co. 



FEW words are needful to explain how it 
comes to pass that the title page of 
this volume bears upon it two names 
as answerable for its contents ; — the 
first being that of a gifted lady whose 
pen, at one time, was frequently 
employed in the varied literature of 
the Religious Tract Society : the 
second, that of the present writer 
who, for the sake of convenience and 
brevity, may be permitted to give 
' that explanation in the first person 
singular. 

Some years ago, then, I received a 
communication from the Editor of the 
Sunday at Home^ stating that some portion 
of a story had been already written for that 
periodical by the above-mentioned lady, 
whose failing health absolutely forbade her making further 
progress in it. The Editorial letter ended with the request 



vi 


Preface, 

that I would examine the chapters already prepared, to- 
gether with a few notes as to the conduct of the after part 
of the story. 

Consenting to this, I entered upon the task, which I found 
to be daily increasingly pleasant as it proceeded ; and in the 
course of four or five months, the story was completed. 

It would have been gratifying to me could I have submitted 
my portion of the work (about two-thirds of the whole) to the 
original designer of it. But this gratification was denied me ; 
for long before that completion, her works of faith and labours 
of love on earth in relation to religious literature were for 
ever ended. It is not necessary to say whereabout in the book 
the first pen was dropped and the second took its place : it 
is enough that the second writer is willingly responsible for 
the whole. 

I have, further^ to express my thanks for permission to 
make use of any portions of Mr. Motley’s then recently 
published and valuable work. The Rise of tJu Dutch Republic^ 
which might assist in the historical parts of the story, 
without which permission Within Sea Walls would scarcely 
have been written. 


G. E. SARGENT 



CoKt£;Kts. 


CHAPTER 

I. Introductory . . • • 

The Carillon Player , , , 

The Pedlar ’ . . . 

The Widow Van Muler and her Family 


II. 

III. 

IV. 
V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 
XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 
XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 


The Field-Preaching ...... 

The Beguine Nun . . . . , , 

The Beguine Nun and the Augustine Monk • . 

In the Market Place ..... 

Karl ..•••••. 

A Narrow Escape ...... 

Nina and her Home 

In Hiding ....... 

How Hans travelled from the Nether-land to the 
Hollow-land ...... 

How the Procession of the Virgin took place in Antwerp 
Concerning the War against Graven Images , 
The Lost One Restored ..... 

How Count Egmont pacified Ghent . . . 

Concerning the “Accord” . , . ' , 

The Spreading of Light • , . . 

The Beguine Margaret’s Joy • • • ., 


FAGB 

’9 

12 

19 

28 

35 

41 

51 

S6 

64 

71 

77 

88 

95 

III 

119 

128 

132 

138 

149 

156 


viii 

Contents , 






CHAPTER 






PAOK 

XXL 

Some Extracts from Nina’s Journal 

• 


• 


164 

XXII. 

The Fight and Flight of Ostrawell • 


• 


• 

173 

XXIII. 

Antwerp i?? March, 1567 — Historical 

• 


• 


180 

XXIV. 

Fjjrther Extracts from Nina’s Journal 


• 


• 

186 

XXV. 

Under the Linden Tree . • 

• 


. 


*95 

XXVI. 

The Story of Angelus Merula . • 


• 


• 

204 

XXVII. 

Partly Retrospective , . 

• 


• 


215 

XXVIII. 

Lysken’s Home . , , . 


• 


• 

225 

XXIX. 

The Secret Meeting, and an Alarm 

# 


• 


229 

XXX. 

Nina’s Story ..... 


• 


• 

239 

XXXI. 

The Flesh weak; the Spirit willing 

• 


• 


246 

XXXII. 

The Power of Faith— New Friends , 




• 

254 

XXXIII. 

In Prison ..... 

• 


• 


264 

XXXIV. 

Aunt Philippa’s Penitence 


• 


• 

-274 

XXXV. 

The Tribunal of Blood , , 

• 


• 


281 

XXXVI. 

The Trial and Escape . , ” , 


P 


• 

286 

XXXVII. 

In England — News from Home . 

• 




298 

XXXVIII. 

The Beggars of the Sea . 


• 

t 


308 

XXXIX. 

A Broken Reed to Lean Upon . 

• 


• 


312 

XL. 

Deliverances ..... 


• 



321 

XLI. 

The Progress of Freedom : A Chronicle 

• 


• 


329 

XLII. 

More Extracts from Nina’s Journal 


• 


• 

' 336 

XLIII. 

The Siege of Leyden . . , 

• 


• 


347 

XLIV. 

Nina’s Journal during the Siege 


• 


• 

350 

XLV. 

More about “The Beggars of the Sea” 

• 


• 


362 

XLVI. 

Man’s Extremity .... 




• 

367 

XLVII. 

God’s Opportunity . . , 



• 


376 





CHAPTER I. 


Ijitroductory. 

HE year 1566 opened in the Netherlands, as 
the foregone year had closed, in universal gloom 
and distrust. Persecution of the most violent 
kind was in almost unchecked progress. The 
Inquisition, which had been introduced into the 
country by Charles V. some ten years before, 
was in the full exercise of its usurped authority 
over the civil laws of the country. For no other 
crime than that of reading, or even possessing 
the Scriptures and other prohibited books ; for 
being found at any religious assembly other 
than those of the Romish, then called the 
National Church ; or even for being suspected of 
holding views favourable to Protestantism and 
the doctrines of the Reformation, hundreds 
and thousands in that most unhappy land had 
already been despoiled of their goods, imprisoned in filthy 
dungeons, and put to most exquisite bodily tortures. It 



10 


Within Sea Walls, 


would unnecessarily excite the horror and indignation of 
our readers to dwell upon, or even to mention, the various 
forms in which martyrdom then was and had for years been 
borne in the provinces of the Netherlands, by those who 
counted not their lives dear to them for the Word of God and 
the testimony of Jesus. The various instances of these 
atrocities given in the following pages, and some incidents in 
the main narrative itself, though mercifully and tenderly told, 
are sufficient to prove to how great lengths can be carried the 
rage and malice of men inspired with diabolical hatred to the 
gospel, when the will and the power are combined. 

“ The people became uproarious,” we are told. “ Even 
Roman Catholics could not bear this. But popish bulls and 
excommunications were showered down upon the unhappy 
country. Imperial decrees were thundered forth, and were 
upheld and executed by troops who were paid from the 
wealth which the oppressor had principally screwed out of his 
victims. The fleets of trading vessels, formerly carrying 
merchandise to every port of the world, were now freighted 
with the flying merchants themselves, who settling in Germany 
and England, transported to these countries their capitals and 
their industry. The prisons, which were numerous and large, 
were filled with the innocent, while their proper occupants 
were allowed to go at large, provided they were poor and 
could repeat an ‘ Ave Maria.* People suspected their nearest 
relations, their own children, their wives, their husbands. No 
one dared to speak openly about religion, and only then in 
private, when two or three being assembled in Jesus’ name, 
the oppressed heart could pour itself out and be strengthened 
in Christian fellowship.”^ 

And all this misery was inflicted by Romish ecclesiastics 
and bigoted rulers upon a people the most loyal, industrious, 
1 J. B. De Leifde. 


Introductory, 1 1 

frugal, and formerly the most contented on the entire con- 
tinent of Europe. 

It will be well to explain that the country known by the 
name of the Netherlands, at the time of which the following 
story treats, consisted of those broad fertile land§ which are 
now occupied by the kingdoms of Holland and Belgium. 
Their ruler was Philip II. of Spain, the same whom we read 
of in English history as the cold-hearted and bigoted husband 
of our Queen Mary, of unhappy memory. But Mary had been 
called to her account eight years before the era at which our 
story commences ; and under the reign of her sister Elizabeth 
our country was experiencing a happy relief from the per- 
secutions of the former reign, which now seemed to be 
transplanted to another soil. 

The government of the Netherlands had been intrusted by 
Philip to his sister, the Duchess of Parma ; and it was while 
under her government that the country became the scene of 
the numberless tragedies already alluded to, and of other 
social and domestic stirring events like those of which our 
story especially treats. 




The garillan flayer. 

VENING was falling over the city of Ghent. The 
sun, however, was yet high above the horizon ; 
for the time of year was midsummer. From 
the numerous towers and pinnacles which rose 
high above the neighbouring house-tops began 
to sound the modulated tones of bells, mingling 
in musical effect thrqugh the calm air. It was 
the time of vespers, and the hour of retirement 
from daily labour. 

Presently, amid the carillons, another sound 
arose, which increased gradually, like the surging 
of a sea. It was caused by the tramp of human 
feet, and the hum of human voices, as bands 
of tired artisans poured along the streets. 

High in one of the belfries, whence chimed 
the carillons, a man stood before a range of 
immense wooden keys, like notes of a gigantic 
organ. Each, as he struck it, swung the bell above, and 
thus a melody was fashioned forth.^ It was a mournful one 

^ Such chime-bells, so played, are in some belfries of our own land, as in 
St. Giles’, Edinburgh. 



13 


The Carillon Player, 

this evening, the music of a Miserere : sweet and sad to 
listeners far below. The player lingered over the notes, 
heedless of the clanging echoes in the tower above, and sent 
his music raining down upon the streets longer than need 
have been, for the very love of it. When it had ended, he 
connected again by a crank the machinery of the ordinary 
chimes, — a cylinder constructed like that of a barrel-organ, 
which would note the hours till morning. 

Gradually the melody died from all the steeples, and the 
tramp ceased in the busy streets below. Then from the 
body of the monastery church, to which this belfry belonged, 
ascended other music, echoing faintly through cloisters and 
closed doors to this rude loft under the bells. It was the 
Salve Regina, or Virgin’s Hymn, at vespers, sung by the 
choir of priests. 

Our carillon-player scarcely heard it ; he was gazing intently 
from a fretted loophole over the wide flat land. Closest lay 
the town, enclosed by a wide extent of walls and fortifications : 
long lines of streets and squares, shining canals, and three 
hundred bridges, clear as in a map; the frowning citadel 
(“ Chateau des Espagnols,” the free-born Flemings called it), 
set in the ancient quarter of St. Bavon, keeping guard, as 
Charles V. intended it should. Not far was the famous 
Beffori, with the gilded dragon (relic of the Crusades and of 
Van Arteveldt’s raid upon Bruges) glittering atop, too bright 
to look at ; thence had the tocsin of the great bell “ Roelandt ” 
been wont to sound alarm of fire or war, until deposed by 
the aforesaid emperor as a sedition-monger. Grand churches, 
massive convents, elegant private dwellings, huge factories, 
rose frequently above the level of common houses, for the 
Gantois were a rich and religious people; ships lined the 
quays, — the murmur of a dense population brooded about 
it all. 


14 


Within Sea Walls, 


But not at the innumerable house-tops of the out-spread 
city did the carillon-player fix his more earnest gaze. This 
was attracted to a spot beyond the walls, where the green 
country stretched a long way off towards the dim sea-dykes, 
intersected with reaches of gleaming watercourses, on which 
slow barges travelled ; dotted with farm-steadings, where 
peaceful people lived, and tall poplars grew, and sleek cattle 
pastured. But what particularly attracted the attention of 
the interested spectator, was something unusual in the 
meadow-land we have described ; a camp seemed to be form- 
ing. Wagons were drawn up, tents were pitched, bodies of 
men were moving about. 

“ They cannot mean to defy Her Highness's government ! 
murmured the solitary man. “ Do they forget that the edicts 
are in as much force as ever } " 

He shook his head as he turned aside to his large-keyed 
instrument, and forthwith proceeded to disobey the edict his 
own self; for he thrust his hand into a hidden crevice of the 
woodwork, and drew forth a book, in which he read, among 
other passages utterly opposed to the state of things then 
existing, the following : 

“ Our Lord Christ, when He cometh, is nothing else but 
joy and sweetness to a trembling and broken heart : as here 
Paul witnesseth, who setteth Him out with this most sweet 
and comfortable title when he saith, ‘which loved me and 
gave Himself up for me.' Christ, therefore, in very deed 
is a lover of those which are in trouble and anguish, in sin and 
death; and such a lover as gave Himself for us. . . . Read 
therefore with great vehemency those words, ‘ me,’ and ‘ for 
me;' and so inwardly practise with thyself, that thou with 
a sure faith mayest conceive and print this ‘ me ' in thy heart, 
and apply it to thyself, not doubting but that thou art of the 
number of those to whom this ‘ me ’ belongeth ; also that Christ 


The Carillon Player, 15 

hath not only loved Peter and Paul, and given Himself for 
them, but that the same grace also as well pertaineth as 
cometh to us as unto them.” 

Thereupon our carillon player lifted his head, as having 
heard pleasant news, and his commonplace Flemish face 
was brightened up with gladness. Had he then also forgotten 
the terrible edicts ? Did he not know that barely having this 
book in his possession was a title to death “ by fire, by the pit, 
by the sword,” or, according to a boon lately granted, by the 
halter ? Any inquisitor would recognise in the foregoing 
paragraph the foul heresy of Martin Luther. 

But it was no common or cheap news in that age for a man 
to hear or read in the words of Scripture itself that the Lord 
Jesus had indeed loved him, and died for him ; that he had 
no price to pay for salvation, neither in golden guilders nor 
yet in penances, nor in fires of purgatory. Luthers Com- 
mentary on‘ the Galatians^ however, was intended to send its 
reader to the Holy Scriptures ; and the present one drew from 
the same recess a well-worn Flemish Testament, to look for 
the text that had so rrxoved him ; and in the search he came 
upon other passages by which he was also refreshed. In the 
strength of that soul-sustenance he felt that he also might 
perliaps be able to dare something for his Saviour's sake. 

Once more his eyes glanced from the loophole upon the 
distant encampment, and, as the solitary’s observations were 
renewed, his heart yearned towards his brethren, with the 
drawing of those invisible Divine bonds which are none the 
less real becausb the world denies their existence. 

Presently he descended the long ladders by many stages 
from the tower-top, with a purpose more than half formed 
in his mind. Alas for human strength ! Opening the postern 
door into the church cloister (which he had carefully locked 
within ere he went up), his eyes fell upon the white scapular 


i6 


Within Sea Walls, 


of an Augustinian monk pacing to and fro, while reading and 
repeating his Hours. At the sight of this monk the carillon 
player drew aside timidly. Brother Guy was reported to be 
the devoutest and also the sternest monk in the community ; 
the keenest against heresy, and always detailed on the duty of 
attending inveterate impenitents at the last. 

“You seldom are seen at vespers now, Gerard Franck,” said 
the monk, stopping short, and it might have been noticed how 
glowing were the eyes in the severe-looking face under that 
white cowl. 

“The carillons began the poor official, by way of 

excuse. 

“ Nay, nay ; who desireth to serve God must not make his 
daily business a cover for neglect. The carillons ceased long 
since.” Saying this, the monk resumed his walk and his 
clasped book without more words. 

“Does he suspect me?” was the anxious thought of the 
reprimanded man as he humbly went home. This home was 
close under the shadow of the big church, a brick box set 
gable-end outwards, quite up against the carven buttresses, — 
one of a nest of such little houses, in which dwelt chiefly the 
dependants of the ecclesiastical establishment. A golden 
light was by this time beginning to climb the high sloping 
roofs and floriated pinnacles, as the sun sank towards the 
distant dykes ; but none penetrated the narrow streets at 
their foot 











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CHAPTER III. 

The feaian 

HE door of the little brick box was quickly 
opened by some one who had evidently been 
watching from the projecting casement of 
closely - leaded panes. “ Father, father, you 
have been long absent ; and here is Master 
Arnoldzoon waiting to speak with you.” 

A suppressed eagerness in the girl’s manner 
made her father glance again at her as he 
passed in to greet his friend, who was a short, 
well-built young man, with a curling pointed 
beard, especially bright and beaming eyes, and 
lame in one of his feet. 

‘‘ You have heard of what is going on outside ?” 
was his first salutation. 

**l saw somewhat unusual from the belfry,” 
was the reply. Lysken, my child, set on the 
supper; we can talk afterwards.” The speaker had by no 
means recovered the cold shock of the monk’s severe rebuke ; 
but the more ardent man went on. 

“The right of us freeborn Netherlanders to meet together 
to hear tl)e Word of God has been put to the test ; crowds are 




20 


Within Sea Walls. 


gathering all through Flanders and Hainault for worship and 
preaching, and no king or kaiser, priest or pope, durst say 
them nay 1 If not in temples made with hands, then in God's 
greater temple, under the open heavens; and I would that 
you saw the enthusiasm, the heartfelt gladness of those 
multitudes I” 

“But I remember such preaching being tried at Tournay 
and Valenciennes, five years agone, and it brought only the 
burning of Master John Lanoy, the preacher,” observed the 
carillon player. 

“ The people have encouragement now that was wanting 
then. Our Flemish nobles had not made a stand against the 
Inquisition and foreign tyranny as lately.” 

“Ah, you allude to the Gueux. Truly all Netherlands 
has heard enough of that band of brawlers; but where is its 
good work?” 

Arnoldzoon made no further answer than to shake his 
head, and addressed himself to his supper. He concluded 
that his host was out of sorts, knowing that those attached to 
“ the religion ” had much to mar their tempers. Of course 
our carillon player came round under this judicious silence, 
and presently manifested the cause of his chagrin. 

“ Father Guy is watching me. I dare not go to this open- 
air preaching for the dread of him.” 

“If all men were of your mind, then were ‘the religion* 
lost,” said Arnoldzoon, bluntly. 

“But my place as player of the carillons?” Lysken’s 
bread and his own, to say nothing of bodily safety, depended 
on his outward orthodoxy. So the timid official felt. 

“He that saveth his life shall lose it,” rejoined the other. 
“ But,’* pushing aside his trencher when he had finished his 
meal, and he ate as one not accustomed to loiter, “ I’ll tell 
thee some news to raise thy poor heart. Know that the true 


The Pedlar. 


21 


meaning of the conferences at Breda and Hoogstraten has 
come out; the Prince of Orange is known to be on the 
popular side ; and he is worth ten thousand men in his single 
person. Besides, the federation of the Compromise has gained 
two thousand subscribers among the lords of the land, all 
sworn to oppose the Inquisition, and to defend each other to 
the death.*' 

“ But who shall defend us — the poor commons of Flanders ? 
It is not so long since we had burning and burying alive in 
the Friday Market, and only the other day a poor preacher 
was strangled.’* 

** Courage, friend : such dark times are almost over. It is 
whispered that the nobles (Count Louis of Nassau at their 
head) will retain a body of German free-lances to oppose the 
Spaniards, should the Inquisition be enforced.” 

“Truly nothing is to be hoped for from the government,” 
said Franck, moodily ; “ see the Moderation placard they put 
forth, as a great effort of clemency! Rightly it is called 
rather the Murderation !” 

“ Well, it has signally failed of effect, if it was intended to 
blind either the commons or the seigneurs,” remarked Arnold- 
zoon. “ And, besides, no inquisitor can arrest an army ! 
Armies are what gather round our pastors. These eyes saw 
seven thousand men listening to Herman Stryker outside 
Oudenarde ; and I expect to see ten thousand Gantois to- 
morrow in yon meadow-lands, proclaiming their freedom to 
worship God!” 

The speaker sprang upright in his ardour, despite his 
lameness, and his eyes shone with the steady, clear light of 
his earnest soul. 

“ Father, shall not we be there?” asked the girl Lysken, 
very softly. 

“ You know not what danger you brave, my daughter.” 


22 


Within Sea Walls. 


Arnoldzoon left her to carry the point in her own way. He 
walked to the wide-mullioned casement filled with carreaux 
-r-very small squares of greenish glass sunk in lead. A light 
was already kindled in just such another window opposite. 

“ Your neighbour makes the beautiful lace still said he, 
presently. 

“The Vrouw van Muler Surely. She has a rare finger 
for the finer sorts, and gets much of her living that way,’* 
replied Lysken. 

“ I want some of that point lace among my merchandize/’ 
he said ; “ it fetched a fair price last time. But you have 
become a lace- worker yourself, maiden ?” and he glanced at 
a pillow and bobbins set aside on a bench. 

“ The vrouw has been teaching me,” was the answer ; “ but 
I doubt it will be a long time ere my handiwork be like hers.” 

“ Let me see it.” Being a travelling merchant — sooth to 
say, a pedlar — he was a judge of excellence in most fabrics, 
and delighted Lysken by taking some of her lace and leaving 
a golden carolus in the basket. 

“ Such finery as this gets me access to the ladies of our 
lords,” he said ; “ and then for the greater treasure that I 
bear!” 

He looked as happy as if it were not a death-warrant he 
carried with him. But a few summers before, a hawker 
returning from the fair of Frankfort with scriptural books, 
gave his pack into the custody of the mistress of the inn 
where he halted. She, being curious, opened it in his absence, 
found some of the books, and showed them to a priest ; upon 
which immediately followed the imprisonment of the owner, 
who after some time was burnt to death in a slow fire. 

Knowing of such incidents, it was natural that Franck 
should presently remark, “ How you escape month after 
month is to me a marvel.” 


The Pedlar. 


23 


“ I have not entirely escaped ; I have been in the torture- 
chamber,” Arnoldzoon answered, quietly. I do not love 
recalling it, except on my knees ; it terrifieth women and 
weak souls. What lamed my right leg, think you } The 
pulleys of the rack.” 

He paused a moment, and added in a deeply-reverential 
tone — 

bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” 

After that there was a little silence, broken by Franck’s 
saying, “ Friend, I would fain ask thee if, in those circum- 
stances of peril and of pain, with the malice of the evil one 
let loose about thee, there were any sensible consolations of 
grace — any strengthenings from above 

“ Without doubt. This I say, that my soul was supported 
by a power and a joy Divine that raised it above the shrinking 
flesh ; so that I can well believe how in their extremities 
those men of God whom He honours to die for His sake are 
sustained in a miraculous manner. Why should we doubt it ? 
Hath He not expressly said, ‘ When thou passest through the 
waters, I will be with thee, and through the fire, it shall not 
kindle upon thee.?’ And we have proof that the promise is 
true — proof from the pens and lips of men that have suffered.” 

He opened a small black knapsack which he had laid down 
on first coming in, and took papers from a secret pocket. 

“ In my wanderings I find accounts of our martyrs which 
I fain would not let perish, if it might be that hereafter I 
found a quiet time to print them, for the glory of God and 
the encouragement of the brethren.” 

Lysken kindled a rushen candle. Her father rose from his 
seat and went to the window with an uneasy expression. 
“ The times be so suspicious,” he murmured, “ and the sight 
of folk gathered about papers may be interpreted to an evil 
end ; I will draw down this curtain.” And he fixed the 


24 Within Sea Wails, 

hanging of thick woollen, so that not a gleam was visible 
outside. 

“ Here is from Jerom Segerts,” began Arnold zoon ; “copy 
of a letter penned in 1551, when he lay in the worst dungeons 
of Antwerp. He writes to his wife, only a few days before 
being burnt (an’ by your leave, but she had just your name, 
Mistress Lysken !)” 

“I shall honour it the more, were she like-minded with 
him,” replied the girl. 

“ That she was ; and, after his death, was drowned in the 
Scheldt for her faith. She to heaven by water, he by fire ; 
the stronger the sorer lot. But here were his words to en- 
courage her : — 

“ ‘ I have so much comfort through God’s promises, that I 
do not so much as think upon my sufferings. I feel so much 
joy and pleasure that I can neither express it by speech nor 
writing. I did not imagine that a man could be sensible of 
so much gladness in a prison ; it is so great that it will scarce 
allow me to sleep. I can scarce think I have lain here more 
than one day. Oh, that I could but break my heart in pieces, 
and distribute it between you and the rest of my friends. . . 
The Lord hath granted us such a measure of strength and 
confidence that we cannot sufiiciently thank Him for the 
great mercies we have received from Him,’ 

“And it was Jerom Segerts who answered to the judges 
that tempted him to recant, ‘ Though ye should set the door 
of the prison open, and should say to me, “ Go, only say you 
are sorry,” I would not stir, because I know I have the truth 
on my side.’” 

“A lion heart in very deed,” said Franck. 

“ I’ll read no more ; it makes Mistress Lysken’s eyes tender 
and her cheek pale,” remarked the pedlar, putting aside the 
papers. “ Affright were a bad end to serve. I’ll tell rather 


TJie Pedlar, 


21 


of a most singular escape I had not long since. Many 
prohibited books were in my pack, hid between the mule 
saddle and the panniers, when the constables stopped me at 
a bridge. ‘ Nay, we must take thee before the schout,’ said 
they. For this happened up in Holland, where they call their 
burgomasters the schout’* 

“ I thought they were well-affected to the truth in Holland.” 

“ What, when the common gibe for Amsterdam is Murder- 
dam \ No province of His Majesty’s hath given more martyrs 
to heaven than there. One of the last was Hans Winter, 
summoned before judges at the Hague for the offence of 
having translated the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed, and various 
passages of Scripture into the Dutch tongue, and put thenr. 
into the hands of school-children and such like ignorant 
persons to learn without book. And on the scaffold he sang 
the Te Deum with a steadfast and joyful countenance ; and a 
bystander hath told me that after he had pronounced the 
words, ‘The noble army of martyrs praise Thee I* ere he had 
time for more the sword descended.” 

The speaker had forgotten Lysken ; but her countenance 
only glowed. 

“ So when I was brought before the magistrate I had some 
cause to quake, for my condemnation was certain if only a leaf 
of Luther’s were found. The schout was in the village green, 
where certain were shooting at the butts. ‘ Unpack the 
knave’s burden,’ quoth he. And so out came my fine laces 
and points for hosen, and my camlet from Valenciennes, my 
cambrics and black Cyprus stuffs, my box of gilded coifs, for 
the burghers’ dames, but never a book. 

“ Then began he to rail at the town militia who had brought 
me. ‘ Hast other merchandise besides these, fellow ?’ cried he 
to me ; ‘ the king of Spain and the Indies makes not war 
against women’s gear.’ 


25 


Within Sea Walls. 


Truly but I have, your worship,’ I answered ; ‘here be a 
book or two likewise, which I keep to pleasure my customers.’ 
Thereupon he looked graver, though less choleric. ‘ Oho ! so 
we have it at last,’ said he, and forthwith donned the spectacles 
that hung on his breast. ‘A Treatise of Expositions on the 
Articles of Louvain, by the most reverend father Ruard 
Tapper, Dean of Louvain.’ 

“ He turned the book round, and looked at me over his 
glasses. ‘Why, fellow, Messer Ruard Tapper was grand 
inquisitor of the Low Countries ! Short work would he have 
made of such as you.’ 

“ That was very true : however, I only answered, ‘ Did not 
then the reverend father desire the book, which he had made 
to confute the heretics, should be circulated V ‘ A confutation ?’ 
said he ; and sitting down in an arbour of willows looked 
through a page. ‘ Why, here be most excellent matter,’ said 
he, ‘fit for any good Christian’s reading.’ Which indeed is 
true, though in other sort than he intended ; for further on 
there be printed whole chapters of Calvin and Melancthon, so 
that what is most strictly prohibited by the king’s placards 
may be read safely in this book.” 

Franck laughed. “Excellent,” he cried; “the enemy 
unawares teaching the truth.” 

“ Ay, and I have reason for thinking that many an one has 
thus been enlightened. The same grand inquisitor made a 
complaint to my lord Viglins, president of Her Highness’s 
council, that the remissness of civil magistrates was causing 
the great spread of heresy in the Netherlands, which all their 
fagots could not burn up. ‘ Nay,’ answered the president, 
‘but you and your brethren, writing books against tlie heretics, 
do widely publish their doctrines and reasonings ; for readers 
who nicely observe the arguments of our adversaries do not 
peruse the confutations as attentively as they ought.’ He 


The Pedlar. 


V 

durst not say the confutations were not strong enough ; but 
verily no babe in the knowledge of Scripture but could 
overthrow them. 

“ However, the good schout was so charmed to find an 
orthodox book where he expected the contrary, that he sent 
me on my way without further search, only detaining the 
volume for his own reading, the which I was the more happy 
to leave, in that the whole truth of the gospel is amply declared 
in its extracts.” 

“ A pleasant enough adventure, as it ended,” exclaimed the 
carillon player. 

** And now, for that early in the morning I must be on the 
field, I shall presently bid you farewell,” said Arnoldzoon, 
fastening his knapsack again. 

“In all the years I’ve known thee, Kaspar, never to tell me 
how you came by your lame foot.” 

“ Doth the soldier boast of his scars ere the fray be finished ? 
Nay, it is enough for me that the Captain of the great army 
knows.” 

He stood ready to go. “ But shall we not first have a 
prayer ?’' 

They knelt. Through Gerard Franck’s ears at first seemed 
to be whispered words of the murderous edict, “ Any house- 
holder who shall permit any act of religious worship in his 
house shall be executed by the rope or the sword.” 

But presently he lost his fears in the fervour of that 
prayer 




CHAPTER IV. 

Tha Widow ¥ati Mulor and her Family. 

ATE as the hour was, Lysken Franck crossed the 
narrow street (half a dozen steps) to her friend 
the vrouw’s threshold. The bond between them 
was closer than that of lace-making : the maiden 
had learned much else in this humble house. 

“ We are going to the field-preaching to- 
morrow,” was the wind-up of her eager recital. 

The widow was a pale, grave-faced woman, 
with snowy hair almost belying a countenance 
which seemed not old enough for such garniture, 
and which moreover was singularly stilled and 
calm in its expression. " I was making up food 
for the day,” she said ; “ sausage and brown 
loaf. Young people brook not fasting.” 

“And I never thought of it,” cried Lysken. 

“ Master Arnoldzoon*s news put all other matters 
out of my head.” 

“ It will be well to go,” said the widow. “ We must honour - 
our Lord Christ at all cost.” 

Was this that worthless thing, a mere phrase ? words only 
“ the toll of custom Lysken knew they were not ; the 



The Widow Van Muter and her Family, 29 

woman’s life and her husband’s death had proved them to be 
more than these as spoken by her. 

He, named Galeyii van Muler, had been a schoolmaster at 
Oudenarde, some miles from Ghent. Twelve years before 
our story begins, viz., in 1554, the famous inquisitor Titelmann 
made a descent upon the town in one of his heretic-hunting 
excursions; and information was laid before him that this 
obscure man, “not being doctor of a learned university,” 
presumed to read the Holy Scriptures. 

“ The poor man was under very great straits,” writes Brandt, 
the martyrologist of the Low Countries. “ On the one hand 
he dreaded to deny God or the truth, as he had learned it ; 
on the other, he feared to confess anything to the prejudice of 
himself, his wife, and five small children. He endeavoured, 
therefore, to extricate himself from this dilemma by demand- 
ing to he beard before the civil magistrates, his lawful judges, 
and that the process against him might be carried on by tlie 
way of charge and proof.” 

The reader should be told that, according to the con- 
stitution of the Netherlands (to which both Charles the Fifth 
and Philip the Second had solemnly sworn), the Inquisition 
was an illegal tribunal ; and the act of extorting materials for 
a man’s condemnation out of his own lips was totally re- 
pugnant to the laws of the land. But the Romish Church 
cared nought for such impediments. The poor schoolmaster, 
however, evaded a direct answer to Titelmann’s insidious 
questions as long as he could, until the inquisitor followed 
Satan’s example in quoting the Scriptures for a foul purpose, 
by saying, sneeringly, — 

“What! thou layest great store by Scripture, yet Christ 
declareth, ‘ Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him will 
I confess also before My Father which is in heaven. But 
whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My words, of him 


Within Sea Walls. 


30 

also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when He cometh in 
the glory of His Father, with the holy angels/ And St. 
Peter commands us to be ready always to give an answer to 
every man that asketh us a reason of the hope that is in us, 
with meekness and fear. I therefore require of you, at this 
present time, an account of your faith.'* 

‘‘Upon these words,” says Brandt, ^the schoolmaster’s 
tongue broke loose ; his faint-heartedness vanished, his love 
for wife and children gave way to the zeal with which his 
soul was kindled, and, under these powerful emotions, he said 
within himself, ‘My God, my God, assist me, according to 
Thy promise.* 

“ Then, turning himself to the inquisitor, he bravely said to 
him, ‘ Ask me now what you please. I shall plainly answer 
whatever the Spirit of God suggests to me to say, and hide 
nothing/ ** 

Thenceforward it was easy to convict him. Titelmann 
had touched the Christian loyalty, and roused all the courage 
of the renewed soul. 

** Stay,” said the inquisitor, “ do you not love your wife and 
children ? ” 

“ Oh, from my heart ! ” exclaimed the agonized confessor of 
the truth. “ It is my love for them distracts me. I tell you 
truly, if the whole world were turned into pure gold and 
given to me, I would freely resign it, so I might even have 
them with me in prison, — nay, though I were to be fed on 
bread and water, and covered with contempt.” 

“You need only a word, to live with them freely as before,” 
said Titelmann. “ Recant your heresies, and all will be well.” 

“ I should sin against God and my conscience,” said Galeyn, 
sadly but firmly. “ Never will I for all the world, not even 
for wife and children, renounce the truth, as long as God 
shall strengthen me with His grace” 


The Widow Van Muler and her Family. 31 

Thus it was to the end ; and Titelmann delivered him ovei 
to the secular arm, — for the Church in her mercy never sheds 
blood : which was also one reason for the ecclesiastical device 
of burning. This humble schoolmaster, his sole crime “ being 
addicted to reading the Scriptures,” was fastened to a stake 
in the midst of his familiar market-place. The favour of 
being strangled before being burned was granted him. 

Having all these scenes in her memory, and knit into her 
heart-strings, it is little wonder that the widow was a still and 
silent woman ; her chief thought in life being to make his 
children worthy of their heroic father. 

They were all with her next day, through the streets of 
Ghent, on their way to the field-preaching. Was it not to 
them a pleasant holiday ? Hans, the eldest, a fine youth of 
eighteen (already apprenticed to the printing craft), led his 
mother by the hand. His sister Betgen (the youngest) clung 
at her mother’s side. Kloos and Galeyn followed, stout boys^ 
bearing the baskets ; and easily the party glided into the 
stream of exodus from the city. 

All Ghent seemed in motion towards the gate nearest the 
Protestant encampment ; the crowd resembled that of the 
artisans at meal-times. The warders looked from their post 
at the archways, and had no orders to stop the torrent, which 
indeed would have as easily swept aside them and their 
arquebuses as tadpoles in a tide. It was a considerable walk 
to the meadows in which the Reformed had taken stand ; but 
men were stationed at intervals to show the path where 
necessary. And within a short distance were set sentinels, 
armed with pike or matchlock, and some men rode about on 
horseback, to guard against surprise. Barricades had also 
been improvised with stout stakes, and wagons: while the 
line of a wide canal defended the rear of the position. 


32 


Within Sea Walls. 


Even Hans was armed. Dressed in his best grey doublet 
and hosen, when ready to set out he had showed his mother a 
sheathed poniard hid in his vest 

“To defend thee and the children, should the soldiers come 
upon us, mother. But my master says that they dare not 
The monks are cowering in their convents at this hour.” 

“ The sword establishes not our Lord’s kingdom,” she had 
answered 

“Mother, I long to strike down persecutors!” and the 
youth’s cheek glowed. Well knew the mother of what he 
was thinking. 

“Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, saith the Lord,” she 
repeated gently; and so they went forth. Their neighbour 
the carillon player, having got out of the town by unperceived 
ways of his own, — probably by a barge on a canal, — joined 
them beyond the walls. His spirits rose under the protection 
of the numbers he saw encountering the same risk. Near the 
barricades they heard a familiar voice. 

“ Sirs, gentlemen burghers, will you purchase copies of the 
hymns out of the French of Clement Marot, done into 
Flemish metre by Master Pierre Dathenus, a monk of 
Poperinguen ? Most excellently translated, — all for one groat 
and a stiver. Yes, my denioiselle, here are two books.” And 
Lysken Franck paid away some of her new money. 

“Cry you mercy, Gerard PVanck,” exclaimed Arnoldzoon, 
for it was he, “but I knew you not, nor your daughter, in this 
crowd. See, the preaching will be yonder, where they are 
setting up a pulpit of planks across those two wagons ; and 
methinks that knoll beside it, nigh those pollard willows, were 
no bad place for best hearing.” 

The way thither led among groups sitting on the grass; 
knots of armed men, the ruder carrying pitchforks and axes, 
others with ancient stebl arbalests or cross-bows, which had 


The Widow Van Muter and her Family, 33 

done duty in extinct wars ; others with broadsword, matchlock, 
carabine ; a few with fhat lately invented and much-dreaded 
weapon, the pistol. These, among women and children, the 
stripling and the man of grey hairs, the wealthy burgher in 
fur-edged robe, the artisan in leather jerkin, the lady citizen 
in dainty rufT and brocaded farthingale and richly-clocked 
hosen, the humbler wife in linen coif and striped kirtle, — all 
assembled by a common interest in the proscribed religion. 
They were encouraged by seeing one another ; and some of 
the more speculative may actually have dreamed of a time 
when it should not be penal to worship God elsewhere than 
within a Romish chapel or cathedral. 

One of the most prominent individuals present was a 
gentleman standing by a superb charger, whence he had 
evidently alighted but a few minutes, — a person arrayed in a 
coat of blue velvet, having a Spanish mantle cast carelessly 
over one shoulder, and the insignia of the imperial order 
of the Golden Fleece dangling ostentatiously on his broad 
breast. This glittering token of rank, the most illustrious in 
the Netherlands, acted as a cordial on the more timid of the 
crowd, as the wearer meant it should. Talking to a knot of 
the citizens, his hand played incessantly with the jewelled hilt 
of his rapier. A man restless, ardent, excitable, as may be 
gathered from the sentiments he expressed loudly enough for 
a considerable circle to hear. 

“ Meet those hungry wolves with remonstrances, say you ? 
Use gentle words, while they are burning and cutting off 
heads ? Then I forewarn you what will come to pass if we 
take the pen, as it were, and leave them the sword. They 
will laugh and triumph, but we shall weep,— ay, weep tears 
of blood!” 

“ Who is he ?” asked the Vrouw van Muler. 

“They call him Toison d’Or,— the Sieur Nicolas de 

D 


34 


Within Sea Walls. 


Hammes,” whispered Franck. " A good friend to the Reformed, 
— one of the foremost nobles of the Compromise.” And the 
carillon player felt quite comfortable under such distinguished 
auspices. 

“ A fiery spirit, methinks,” she rejoined ; and was glad to 
find the only place where they would have sitting place was 
beyond the sound of his voice, for the sake of her Hans. 

“ Mother, can these be gentlefolks of his company, wearing 
doublets and cloaks of ashen grey, coarser a deal than mine 
— and Hans looked at his sleeve, — “ with common felt hats, 
and — see ! leathern pouches and wooden bowls by their side, 
like beggars hasting to the convent gate for a meal ? ” 

They had never before seen the chosen uniform of the 
Gueux, — a band of nobles and gentry, who had sworn to 
•^contend with the Inquisition, and remain faithful to the king, 
even till compelled to wear the beggar’s sack.” Right soon 
they discovered that the two articles of their resolution were 
utterly incompatible, and that Philip the Second considered 
admiration for the Inquisition an essential part of loyalty 
to himself. 




CHAPTER V. 

The Tield-preachitig, 

) the preacher had not yet arrived, an under- 
current of conversation ran through the greater 
part of the assembly; others were reading the 
little books circulated by Arnoldzoon and 
hawkers like him. Lysken looked at her hymns, 
and found them dedicated to all congregations 
in the Low Countries who with their pastors 
“ were groaning under the cross.’’ 

Lysken’s attention was so strongly attracted 
by the book she held in her hand, that she 
heard nothing more till her father whispered, 
** The preacher is come;” then lifting her eyes, she 
saw a tonsured head above the pulpit of planks. 
Herman Stryker had been a Dominican monk 
of Zwoll, and still wore the dark habit of his 
order ; a man on whose life was set a great price, 
who daily was hunted like a wild beast, and knew that the 
cruellest death awaited him it captured, but who, notwith- 
standing, never ceased to proclaim in all quarters the good 
news of ** gratuitous salvation.” 

Deep silence fell upon that great gathering. They were 



3<6 Within Sea Walls, 

about to engage in a work involving life or death ; the 
worshipping God according to their conscience, than which 
there existed no worse crime in their ruler’s eyes. Breaking 
the hush, arose the ex-monk’s earnest voice. 

In his prayer he thanked God for this new opportunity of 
proclaiming His gospel. And with a fulness of meaning 
which we in our safe days can scarcely appreciate, he also 
thanked God for all His servants who had departed this life 
in His faith and fear ; for the many martyrs by fire, and 
drowning, and the sword, who had travelled the short road of 
man’s cruelty to the heavenly glory. 

The sermon was at first somewhat polemical. Herman 
Stryker desired to strengthen the doctrine whence practice 
must spring. Certain tempters were abroad, who would fain 
combine Romanism and the gospel; thinking that by such 
means the offence of the cross would cease. “ Conform to the 
ceremonies of the Church,” said they, “assist at the mass, 
and keep your own opinions private.” (Whereat our carillon 
player rather drooped his head). “ But by saying Amen to 
the priest’s mass, you deny the grace of Jesus Christ!” cried 
the preacher. 

“ Nay, my masters,” he added, “ but how should this be ? 
Even they would have us preachers to deny our Lord in such 
wise, to act one thing and to speak another ; for they know 
that it would be the grave of all sound doctrine. If I preach 
against idolatry, and at the same time exhibit an idol in tlie 
mass, with design that the people should fall down and 
worship it ; if I teach Christ, as having already obtained an 
everlasting redemption for us by tliat one oblation made to 
His Father, of His own body on the cross, and yet afterwards 
offer Him up again to the Father by the sacrifice of the mass, 
to merit fresh pardon for the sins both of the living and the 
dead ; if I tell you, that Christ instituted tlie holy eucharist 


FIELD FKEACHIMG 





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The Field- Preaching, 39 

with bread and wine, in remembrance of His death, and for a 
seal in our hearts of the communion of His body and blood, 
whereby forgiveness of sins, justification and salvation were 
obtained for us — and afterwards, shutting up a wafer or a 
piece of bread, carry it about in a gold or silver box, to the 
end it should be honoured and worshipped as the whole Christ, 
both God and man : if I teach that Christ alone has purified 
us with His blood, and that there is no salvation without 
Him, and afterwards pretend myself to purge the dead from 
their sins, and to bestow heaven upon them by holy water, 
incense, vigils, and masses for the soul ; if I teach that we are 
to worship God alone, since He only can see our hearts, since 
He alone is our Saviour, and has not given His honour to 
another, and presently after, in the canon of the mass, invoke 
forty or fifty dead men, and with a loud voice sing to Mary in 
the church, ‘ Come, thou Saviour of the world, take away our 
sins ! ’ if I affirm that none can come to the Father but by 
the Son, and that therefore Christ is our only Mediator and 
Intercessor, and then go and beg an audience of God, in the 
collects of the mass, through the saints that are dead, and 
make the Virgin my intercessor : — for all this treacherous and 
unfaithful service, what could I expect else, than that while I 
preach to others, I myself also should become a castaway, 
and should receive my reward in those dreadful words, * I 
know you not ; depart, ye workers of iniquity ! 

Afterwards the sermon diverged to the persecuted state of 
the Christians, his hearers. No new thing was it that the 
men of Flanders should stand fast and suffer for the truth of 
God. Old chronicles set forth how that three hundred years 
before, the gospel prevailed mightily among the common 
people, by means of those good preachers called the poor men 
of Lyons ; and it was warred against by Pope Gregory the 
Ninth and his inquisitor, monk Robert, the Dominican. Then 


40 


Within Sea Walls, 


did Flemish earth first smother the living faces of men and 
women, whose only crime was that they could not adore 
the sacramental bread ; then were cinders of martyrs first cast 
into the clear rivers. But never since that time had the truth 
been quite put out in Flanders ; and so it was no strange 
thing that persecution should happen unto this generation. 
“In the world ye shall have tribulation,” said Jesus Christ. 
And though He loved the apostles so dear that John lay in 
His very bosom, yet was not John spared the cauldron of 
boiling oil, nor the exile in Patmos. 

“ Therefore let not any man say, Christ loveth me not, when 
he is called to suffer or to die because of the truth. Nay, 
brethren, thus he is promoted to the ranks of heaven’s nobility, 
whom Christ standeth up to welcome, as He did Stephen. It 
is because we believe so feebly in the world to come, that 
we fear to act upon our faith. It is because we cleave to 
our dross and rags, that we dread the spoiling of our goods, 
instead of taking it joyfully, like those of old. Brethren, if 
our eyes were opened now, should we not see the plain full of 
horses and chariots of fire, like the guard of heaven’s train- 
bands sent to attend the prophet ? Angels watch our contest 
with the powers of evil, and mayhap envy us the battle. To 
the principalities in heavenly places is the manifold wisdom 
of God made known by the Church ; in the ages to come shall 
the riches of His grace be showed by His kindness toward us 1 
Ah, brethren, we have eternal life ! Fear not them that can 
kill the body. To the man who trusts in Christ, there is 
no death ! ” 

The audience drew a long breath when the appeal was 
ended ; and then an outburst of psalmody relieved the 
pent-up feeling. 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Begvtine Hun. 

REACHING took place next day also in the meadow- 
lands to many thousands of hearers, but Franck 
and his daughter were not present. On that 
evening he came back from his tower in a state 
of ill-concealed agitation. “They are gone!” he 
exclaimed to Lysken ; - “ my books are gone 1 I 
am a ruined man.” 

She drew from him that he had been reading 
them on the evening before Arnoldzoon’s visit; 
he had not looked at them last night after re- 
turning from the encampment ; and to-day he 
found the crevice in the woodwork empty. His 
thought instantly leaped to Father Guy, the 
Augustinian monk. 

" They have a master-key to all buildings about 
the church. And his eye looked evil upon me in the cloisten 
I would not keep the books in this house, lest the provost’s 
men should visit us ; and now there is only me to be suspected 
— only me — none else ascends the tower. ‘ Whoso saveth his 
life shall lose it.’ It is a true saying.” 

“Nay, father,” interposed the girl, “but we are not to run 



42 


Within Sea Walls, 


ourselves in danger needlessly. Who dares to keep Reformed 
books openly? Even the Vrouw van Muler hides them 
behind a panel. Blame not yourself, dear father. Did we 
not hear from Master Arnoldzoon that the persecution must 
cease henceforth, when the nobles bestir themselves ? And if 
they search all the houses in Ghent for prohibited books, 
methinks they may soon have a pile as high as Saint BavonV* 
This was the great cathedral. 

Franck smiled. “ I do believe the citizens have much 
sympathy with ‘the religion,’” he said. “But would that my 
books had been better hidden !” 

“Father,” spoke his comforter, your judgment did the 
wisest you saw to do, and now you must leave the issue with 
God. Think you that He knows not what perturbs our hearts 
at this present?” Lysken turned quickly aside to conceal a 
starting tear. * 

Her father caught her hand. “Forgive me, rrfy daughter ; 
I have terrified thee overmuch with my little faithl And now 
that I think of it, surely had mischief been intended for us it 
had not waited so long. Night is their favoured time for 
arrests. And where shall the reverend fathers find a more 
skilful handler of the carillon than myself? Even my lord 
abbot did vouchsafe to commend the chimes to me no longer 
ago than last Saturday, when he heard that the chant was of 
mine own composing ! Ay, truly, had mischief been purposed 
we had seen it ere now,” 

He walked to and fro, in a troubled sort of way nevertheless, 
twitching at the hair on his lip. “ Besides, flight would be a 
confession of guilt, like Voorst the Frieslander— all would be 
forfeited ; ’ and how leavO my new musical metals, so near 
completed — the rarest invention — that was to bring fortune 
for thee, Lysken ? Nay, they will never condemn me on the 
finding of two books.” And he ascended a narrow creaking 


The Beguine Nun, 43 

staircase in the corner to his workshop, where, notwith- 
standing his assumed bravery, she heard him sigh heavily. 

Left alone, Lysken’s fa.ce was grave indeed : she no longer 
threw her bobbins deftly to and fro on the lace-pillow, but sat 
listlessj hands in lap, thinkingi of this new danger. And a 
temptation came to her (as in many of our deeply-moved 
moments it does come) in the following suggestion : Voorst 
the Frieslander had beenxarillon player before her father — a 
Lutheran, who fled one day across the Rhine to avoid the edicts. 
Could not the perilous books be esteemed certain of his? 

She clasped her hands. ‘‘O God, keep me true ! Let fne 
never shelter under falsehood'; let me never seek thus to 
evade the cross!” . 

Poor girl t she felt quite guilty. It is in such times of need 
that the soul’s only refuge is in God’s vast Jove, coupled with 
His constant care. Lysken prayed. 

A knock at. the dbor startled her': only a serving map from 
some rich burgher, carrying the psaltery of his mistress, which 
needed repairs. Franck assented with a grumble, though the 
job would bring him ready pay : he grudged labour spent on 
anything besides his invention. . ^ 

Yet after the nfian had gone he stood leaning the instrument 
On the table, and stirring the perfect strings with one of its 
wooden strikers. “ Lysken, I must go out to consult a: friend. 
In good sooth I know not what to^do.” 

The girl looked brighter. “Father, I will e’en tell the 
Beguine Margaret Regis. She is* good and kind, as all 

Ghent knows ; anduf any one has influence over him ” 

“The monk?” Franck shook his head. “They pride 
themselves, those ascetics, on n being free from all ties of 
human love or kindred. Consider what you do. Should she 
plead with him and fail — the confession might be worse for 
vs all He hesitated. ... 


44 


Within Sea Walls, 


“Father, bid me to go,” and Lysken wound her arm through 
his. “ I know the Beguine’s kind heart. She will do us no 
ill, if she can do no good. And I think she wishes ‘tlie 
religion^ well.” 

Lysken^s apprehensions were lighter as she drew on her 
hood and sped away through the streets to the Beguinage. 
A high, blank wall surrounding looked like a convent, yet 
when the portress opened, inside were groups of small houses, 
set in gardens of vegetables and medicinal herbs, and even 
the humbler flowers beautifully cultivated, divided by clipped 
quick-set hedge or high box border each from other. Two 
or three large buildings overtopped the rest : one a chapel, 
whence issued the sound of voices singing some office of the 
Church ; one a school, empty of pupils at this hour ; one a 
hospital, and its convalescents, aged and infirm people, were 
sitting outside on benches in the evening sunshine, or creeping 
about the neat alleys among the gardens, like summer insects, 
once beautiful, once strong, nearing the chrysalis stage of 
weakness and torpor, with a resurrection beyond. 

Most of the doors of the nuns* cottages were shut, and a 
grating in the panel showed how the inmate could speak to 
those outside if disinclined to open. But that to which 
Lysken bent her steps stood wide, showing a floor of neat 
tiles, on which shone warmly the westering beams. Also she 
could hear some one talking, and a childish voice repeating, 
while the whirr of a wheel went on. 

Great was Lysken’s disinclination to tell her story, now 
that it had come to the point. She had to confess matter 
enough to condemn her father with any court taking cognizance 
of heresy. Lingering at the door, she heard the old nun 
teaching a child. 

“Thou knowest, little one, that our Lord was carried away 
to Egypt by His mother and St. Joseph, because wicked men 


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47 


The Bcguine' Nun. 

wanted to slay Him ; and the tale goethhow that they%ought 
shelter in a rich personas house, and were refused ; while 
a poor workman, as, a. Ghent weaver belike, took him indoors. 

“So let us give what Jesus asks 

Without .delay , or. grudging : ’ 

And let us pray that Jesus may 
Iii all our hearts find lodging x 
For where He’s guest then goes it best 
With all within the cottage ; 

For if He dine, the water’s \rine, : ‘ , 

And angel’s food the pottage 1 ” ... 

Such is a translation of the quaint Flemish hymn the 
Beguine repeated. - ^ * 

“To give our Lord the very best we have, always, Ulric-^ 
that’s the Christian’s rule.' For He gave us His best when 
He left the glorious heaven to come down and die for us on 
this cold earth. Wilt not try to give Him a place in thine 
heart, poor boy?” . ' 

While he repeated his verse, the listener accidentally changed 
her position, so that a part of her shadow fell ' across The 
bright-tiled . doorway/- 

“ Come in, maiden. Ah ! ’tis Lysken Franck and the 
beguine kissed her affectionately. “ Go now,”' she said to the 
round-eyed child, “and weed the garden' bed where you began 
yester-eve, and beware that you pluck up no; young roots of 
the feverfew or tansy growing there. My poor' Ulric ” — he 
was an orphan whom the good beguine had taken up to 
support and train — “he offended in school hours, being dull 
of understanding and slow of memory. Ah me ! folks have 
less patience with these failings of the head than with faults 
of the heart ; and I was trying to teach him somewhat, for often 
I find the best way to a stupid brain lies through one’s feeling, 
and to love our Saviour is the best learning. And now» 
Lysken, for thine ailment, whatever it be.” 


48 


Within Sea Walls, 


“ D%ar mother, must it needs be an ailment ?” said the girl, 
with a short unmirthful laugh. 

“ Thy face is a tell-tale, child. Care and dread are written 
upon it plain,’’ answered the beguine, perusing the fair features. 
Then, piecemeal forth came the trouble. Their sympathies in 
religious matters had hitherto been rather implied than 
expressed ; and, after all, was not the Beguine Margaret 
Regis a nun, though bound by no vows except the wide 
one of charity } Once she had lived in the world, and been 
wife and mother ; but her husband had been long dead, 
and her only son, once her hope, had suddenly disappeared 
from her side, and was thenceforward seen there no more. 
Thus alone in the world, it needed little persuasion to induce 
the devout and simple-minded Margaret to cast in her lot 
with the Beguine nuns, mixing with the outer world only to 
alleviate as much of its woes as she could. All this Lysken 
knew ; and her story ended, broke from her the piteous 
appeal, — would she now endeavour to shield her father from 
any consequences of the seizure of his prohibited books ? 

The Beguine’s wheel stopped, and she sat pondering. " I 
wish they made not such a coil about books. They are 
driving our best citizens out of the land by those placards. 
But I wish you came to me on other business, child. There 
is nought so ill to meddle with as heresy, and already the 
worse sort of bigots believe me tainted.” 

Nevertheless she sat her wheel into its corner of the tiny 
V kitchen, and put on over her brown woollen tunice her white 
“faille” (fall or veil), prepared to go forth into the streets. 

The person to whom I am to speak, Lysken, doubtless you 
know how stern he is in his duty, and how little disposed to 
favour ‘ the religion.’ And what shall I say for the future^ 
your father’s future conduct — if this be passed over?” 

“ Madam, I cannot tell,” said Lysken, her heart aching. 


The Begtiine Nun. 49 

* Oh, good mother, you would not have him a renegade to 
his convictions ?” 

“ Not I, child ; but others would. I have some medicine 
to carry to a sick woman near by you, and so will walk with 
you, the rather that dark comes quickly enough after sundown 
in the narrow streets.” She left Lysken for a few minutes, 
and returning, found her looking at a set of “instruments of 
the passion” in miniature, which lay under a box of glass 
joined at the edges, 

“ Burned long since would those have been, but they were 
the gift of a poor fellow I helped to heal in our hospital, and 
he fashioned these out of some foreign wood with a strange 
spicy smell. At first I liked them well enough ; afterwards 
I had the thought, ‘What, keep in honour the nails, the cross, 
the crown, that so cruelly tormented thy best Friend? Ah, 
it is in our souls we should wear His passion, and put His 
cross upon our sins.” 

“ Mother Margaret, I have often wished to become a 
JBeguine, like you. So peaceful is the life — so full of the 
service of God.” 

“Not a whit more so than thy common days can be, 
child,” was the prompt rejoinder. “Never separate thy 
religion from the duties of each hour, Lysken Franck. To 
this end was our order instituted first, that common Christians 
might be banded together in a holy living, each at home. 
‘Praying women,’ was the old name. But we have fallen 
on evil days, and all this is changed.” 

; Beguine Margaret Regis spoke truth. The earliest women 
of her order, established in the tenth century, took no vows 
of poverty or perpetual celibacy, or absolute obedience, but 
led in their own homes, or in communities, a life of prayer 
and labour and charitable works. They were wholly self- 
maintained ; they were free to marry at any time. The Low 

£ 


Within Sea Wa/ls, 


50 

Countries and North Germany were full of them. Matthew 
Paris relates that, in 1250,* Cologne contained a thousand 
Beguines, called “ seelen weiber,” or soul-women. 

The order was far too free to be liked by the papacy, and 
for a century underwent considerable persecution, until gra- 
dually it was assimilated to monastic rules. But when the 
Bible was unchained at the Reformation, great numbers of 
Beguines were among the converts. 

To return to our story, from which we have for a moment 
digressed. Mother Margaret and Lysken departed from the 
convent, the nun closing but not otherwise fastening her door. 
Walking slowly onward, they presently reached, almost in 
silence, the residence of the maiden, where seeing her safely 
ensconced, and after an affectionate farewell, the nun proceeded 
on her twofold charitable errand. 

Meanwhile, our carillon player had been to his friends for 
counsel. Citizen van Munk thought he had nothing for it 
but immediate flight. Burgher Schloss, being in no danger 
himself, marvelled he shrank from the honours of martyrdom, 
A third had talked largely of the ancient privileges of Ghent ; 
as if Philip the Second had not systematically for years done 
his cruel pleasure, in spite of the “ Joyeuse Enfree ” of Brabant 
and all other parchments of the seventeen Netherlands. 

Yet Franck returned home riot so cast down. His soul was 
getting anchorage in the fact that a greater than the king 
of Spain would care for him. 

“ I hope you made no promise for the time to come, 
Lysken ; for thou knowest I could not give up my Lord and 
Saviour, or deny His truth, not even — I think — God help me 
if I speak in my own miserable strength 1 — not even for the 
prison and the death T* 

“ Dear father I ” 


CHAPTER VII. 


The ®un and the Jlugustine Mnnh. 

ARGARET proceeded on her way. The sick 
woman had first to be visited, administered to, 
so far as her bodily wants were concerned, 
then comforted and cheered by gently spoken 
words of spiritual instruction and softly recited 
prayers. 

Then, retracing her steps, the nun proceeded 
to the monastery in quest of the dreaded monk 
whose name had stricken with dismay her poor 
little Lysken. And, truth to tell, the benevolent 
Beguine sister well knew how beset with diffi- 
culties and dangers was the errand she had 
partly undertaken. She had not concealed 
these from Lysken, but neither had she dwelt 
upon them. If it were so that these hateful 
books had been discovered and removed as witnesses against 
the poor carillon-player, by the monk Guy, she knew how 
little hope there was of moving him to compassion. And the 
-fact that they had been found hidden in the, sacred edifice, 
and that their very contact had polluted the unconscious 
machinery daily employed in the service of Mother Church, 



52 


Within Sea Walls, 


would probably be sufficient to close the hearts of the 
Augustine brotherhood against the daring transgressor, should 
the acctisation and proofs be laid before them in conclave. 

Nevertheless, Margaret Regis moved onward. The narrow 
streets were now almost deserted, and the gloom of a yet 
moonless evening was rapidly spreading around ; but the veil 
which distinguished her as a religieuse was sufficient protection 
from any wayfarer whom she might meet, even if ill-disposed. 

At length she reached the monastery gate, and in response 
to her gentle touch of the porter s bell, that official made his 
appearance. A well-fed aged lay brother he was, too, and 
kindly ‘countenanced. 

‘*If it were but he with whom I have to deal,” thought 
Margaret, with a sigh. She knew Brother Albert of old. 

Brother Guy, — can he be spoken with.?” the nun asked 
timidly. 

“ Of a certainty, no,” replied the porter ; “ seeing that not 
half-an-hour since he bent his steps outward. Methinks, 
sister,” he added, apparently recognizing the visitor, — “ sister 
Margaret, surely ? ” 

I am Margaret Regis,” she replied, quietly. 

Brother Albert nodded: “Methinks, sister,” he repeated, 
<‘had you remained within your own doors, the greater would 
have been your chance of seeing him ; for as he passed out 
he mentioned that he had occasion to visit a sick man near to 
the Beguine convent.” 

Little more passed, and Margaret returned by the way she 
came. Was it a relief to her that her interview with the 
dreaded monk was, at least, postponed ? Another day might 
do as well : a few hours’ respite might enable her to put in a 
more compact form her arguments on the side of mercy. 

The respite, whether or not welcome, was but short, how- 
ever; for on opening the door of her cottage she knew that 


The Beguine Nun and the Augustine Monk. 53 

she was not alone. The moon had risen, and by its yet faint 
beams she was enabled to distinguish a human figure in a 
monastic habit, seated near to the little table. 

“Brother Guy?” she uttered, inquiringly, as she halted on 
the door-step. 

“Yes, it is I, sister,” was the somewhat cold response. 
“ Enter, if it please you.” 

Margaret obeyed. Without more words she busied herself, 
first in kindling the flame of a small lamp that was ready to 
hand, then in removing her veil. Coincident with this move- 
ment on her part, the monk threw back the cowl which 
covered the upper part of his countenance. 

“ Be seated, sister,” said the monk ; and, as at a word of 
command from a superior, the nun obeyed, occupying a stool 
lower than the seat he had taken, and placed herself on the 
opposite side of the table. 

Thus positioned, it might have been seen, even by the 
timorous Gerard Franck, had he been present at the interview, 
that the features of the ascetic monk insensibly assumed a 
softer aspect, and that some few years, at least, might be 
subtracted from the number which had made up his pre- 
supposed age. On the other hand, although the nun 
maintained her usual quiet demeanour, the interested 
observer might have sought in vain to solve the problem of 
the comparatively aged contour of her countenance. As little 
could he have understood the unembarrassed, unimpassioned; 
yet guarded tones of the conversation which ensued. 

“ You have sought me this evening, sister,” the monk began. 

“ Truly, brother.” 

“ I need not ask you why. That miserable music-monger^ 
Gerard Franck.” 

“ You know I have an interest in him. Yes, it was in his 
behalf, truly. Brother Guy,” 


54 


V/ithin Sea Walls. 


too, have an interest in him. I should be grieved to do 
him harm. But he has placed himself in harm's way. He 
has defiled the sanctuary. If, in his own dwelling, he had 
chosen to follow his heretical studies, his insignificance would 
have been his protection. But now ” 

‘^But now, Brother Guy : — say, will the bells be less musical, 
their tones the less exquisitely modulated, their effect on the 
ears of crowds below the less grateful because undiscoverably 
tainted with heresy.? Say that to read the Scriptures is a 
mighty and unpardonable crime,^ — but is it a crime?" asked 
the nun, stopping short her own supposed admissions. 

“ Sister, sister," said the monk, impatiently. “ I know what 
you would say. There was a time when the common people 
heard Him — the blessed Potentate, the Prince of peace— 
gladly; and why not the common people now?" 

And why not the common people now ?” echoed the clear, 
gentle voice of the nun, solemnly. " But • this is little to the 
point,” she added. “ I know, brother, how widely our views 
on this matter differ ; and that " 

‘*Hush, hush, sister," interposed the monk, nervously. 
** You, in your w’ay, I, in mine, must perform our separate 
duties, and fulfil our several destinies. What these may be 
are yet unknown to us. But enough of this.” 

“Yes, enough for this time. But, Gerard Franck?” and 
the Beguine’s voice dropped, for she remembered the poor 
man's peril, and her promise to Lysken. 

“ Ah, I had almost forgotten. Tell him, or tell his daughter, 
that he has placed himself in desperate danger. It needs 
only for the word to be spoken, and the Inquisition would 
step in and demand its victim.” 

“But need the word be spoken, brother?” the nun de- 
manded, rather impatiently. 

“ Listen, sister : Gerard Franck’s defection is as yet known 


The Begiiine Nun and the Augtistine Monk, 55 

to no moa ^han one. For a time he may escape the conse- 
quences of his — say of his imprudence. But let him know 
that he is closely watched. His books have been removed, 
so that they may not be witnesses against him : but he may 
some time hence be called upon to answer interrogatories 
which, apart from .those witnesses, will be hard to be answered.” 

“ What then can be done for him, Brother Guy 

“ Naught can be done for him but to warn him to commit 
himself by no overt act, but to attend to his office diligentlj'. 
When the right time comes, other towns .in the Low Countries 
will be open to him, in which comparative safety may be 
found. Let him' know this.” 

“And this is all the assurance you can give?” asked the 
Beguine, rising to her feet. 

“Truly, all,” responded the Augustine, slowly copying the 
movement. For one moment, as was afterwards ever re* 
membered by Margaret Regis, a strange look of intelligence, 
accompanied by a sorrowful smile, flashed across kis 
countenance, and a half-extended hand seemed to be placed 
almost within her grasp. But the next moment the hand 
was hastily withdrawn, the face was cast into deep shade by 
the cowl which the hand busily adjusted ; and with a hurriedly 
spoken Benedicite, the visitor passed over the cottage threshold, 
and was, in a brief space of time, lost to sight. 

Then, and not till then, the Beguine sister gave way to 
emotions hitherto suppressed. 

“ Why, oh, why are we ever to meet and part thus ? why 
am I doomed ever to be childless — childless 1 ” 

She bowed her head, and wept passionate tears ; but in her 
own distress, whatever the cause, the widow nun did not lose 
sight of her friend Lysken. Early on the following day, she 
delivered the monk’s message as she received it. It carried a 
liUlc, but not much, comfort with it 



CHAPTER VIII. 


In the Marhnt flace. 

HE Vrydags Markt, otherwise Friday Market, in 
Ghent was the busiest scene of that busy city 
on the day of the week whence it took its name. 
From first breaking of dawn a stream of 
peasants and farmers flowed through the gates, 
bringing country produce. Such dainty butter, 
such amber cheeses, such pails of cream, such 
masses of cheap vegetables were sold in no 
other land of that age ; for in the Low Countries 
were deep alluvial pastures, and the people had 
invented two things scarcely known through 
the rest of Europe — dairies of wonderful clean- 
liness, and garden husbandry. 

About the square stood ancient houses of 
lofty proportions : the majority presenting those 
curious stepped gables characteristic of Flemish 
domestic architecture of olden periods. Here were also halls 
of some of the guilds and crafts, which had once been all 
powerful in Ghent, and even still exercised considerable in- 
fluence. The butchers had a house like a castle, built of red 
and white bricks and containing noble state rooms, business 



In the Market Place, 


57 

rooms, banquet rooms. The masons possessed a mansion 
for which a fresh ornament had to be planned and executed 
(with his own hand) by each elected dean of their craft. The 
arbalestriers or crossbowmen, the fullers, the curriers, the 
cordwainers, the mariners, — trades too numerous to mention, 
met in the square of the Friday Market, whenever they held 
congresses on public matters. Many a scene of wild excite- 
ment had the old houses looked down upon ; many a civic 
battle ending in blood : for generation after generation the 
Counts of Flanders received brilliant inauguration here ; and 
their great opponents, the Van Arteveldts, were here chosen 
leaders of the Commons of Ghent — the famous White-Hoods. 
Later than all this historic repute came scenes the worst, yet 
noblest : the Vrydags Markt, like our London Smithfield, had 
a spot sacred to the ashes of martyrs. 

How many men and women here gave up their lives 
for the cause of truth and freedom, who shall tell? In- 
cessantly in the martyrologies of the time occur entries so 
terribly concise and suggestive as these : — “ Twelve at Gant, 
1559;” — "eighteen or twenty Baptists this year, 1560, at 
Antwerp and Gant, seven of whom were women — “ 1 562, 
five men and five women at Gant “ 1563, suffered for their 
religion at Gant, a mother and her son, two sisters, a mother 
and her daughter; and again, a man and two women.’* 
These are* the obscurer sufferers, whose names are recorded in 
no earthly register : whose death was attended with no in- 
cident remarkable enough to make a paragraph for the 
historian ; but the highest heroism of human nature, the 
strongest faith in the Unseen and Eternal, must have animated 
their breasts. It is needless to do what were easy, to lengthen 
the bloody list ; for this sort of thing had been going on in 
every Netherland town of note since 1523, when the proto- 
martyrs of Belgium, Henri Voes and Jan Esch, died in thf 


58 Within Sea Walls: 

flames at Brussels, singing with their last breath — ‘^Te Deum 
laudamus.” 

On the present Friday in July, 1566, a few days following 
that which witnessed the conference described in the last 
chapter, the Vrydags Markt was neither a place of popular 
amusement, nor patriotic exhibition, nor public execution ; 
but had reverted to its original purposes of buying and selling. 
It was lined with booths and stalls of various sizes, some 
having gay-striped awnings, some shaded by an erection like 
an (ante-dated) umbrella of clumsiest make. 

Two women differing in age, but in both of whom we are 
interested, having filled their baskets with housekeeping stuff, 
were about returning home, when their attention and that of 
all others in the market-place was attracted by a sort of 
procession riding into it. Horsemen with lances first, and 
the Spanish king's standard in the wind : men-at-arms with 
their steel cuirasses bright as mirrors, magistrates in robes 
and trimmings of miniver. The latter wore also the ornamental 
knotted cord round their throats, intended to remind the 
municipality for ever of Charles the Fifth’s clemency in not 
hanging them all, on one occasion, when they asserted their 
rights as freeborn Flemings. 

Trumpeters blared loudly as the procession stopped at the 
cross in the middle of the square, and the principal magistrate 
opened a roll of parchment. 

“ Some new placard from Her Highness,'' said a thin-faced 
weaver near Lysken in the crowd. For a crowd had gathered 
fast from all points, to hear what now it might be the pleasure 
of their rulers to do unto them. “ I pray God,” added the 
weaver, “it be gentler than the last.” 

“What! wouldest have any milder than the merciful 
murderation ?” rejoined a bystander in a mocking tone, 
“Thou’rt hard to please, friend I” 


T n the M arket Place. 


59 


The substance of the new edict was as follows 

A fresh prohibition of all conventicles and unlawful assem* 
blies, both public and private, on pain of hanging to the 
preachers and teachers, and the forfeiture of their estates to 
the behoof and advantage of those that should apprehend 
them : and in case they had no estates, then the persons who 
caused them to be taken should receive from His Majesty’s 
treasurer, a reward of six hundred pounds Flemish money, 
reckoning forty Flemish groats to the pound. In the same 
manner were to be treated all such as furnished and provided 
places for preaching and teaching. They who harboured or 
concealed those preachers were to be punished with death; 
and those who were found at any such meetings should be 
punished at the discretion of the judges ; with regard, how- 
ever, to their different ranks and qualities, as likewise whether 
they went thither out of mere curiosity, or whether armed to 
defend the preachers ; for in the latter case they were to be 
banished. 

A running fire of underhand popular commentary accom- 
panied the slow and pompous reading of the Regent’s pro* 
clamation, such as — “ Forfeit the preachers’ estates, quotha ! 
How much goods or lands hath Master Herman Stryker, or 
Frans Junius, or Jan Arentzoon, who have given up all for the 
Gospel t Think they it is dealing with fat priests they be ?” 

“ If Her Highness has made it six thousand Flemish pounds, 
she shall not have the preachers. Our lives first !’’ 

‘“Punished after the discretion of the judges’ — know ye 
what that means, good people ? Lately our duchess advised 
the inquisitors to be modest and discreet in their office. Part 
of it was the drowning men in prison, head tied between 
knees. Mine own uncle died after that fashion. Which of 
you is ready to suffer the like, to pleasure Her Highness and 
the bishops?” 


Within Sea Walls, 


6o 

“Beware of your words, friend,” said a well-dressed person, 
,wearing a medal of the Virgin in his felt hat. “ Less than 
you have spoken has cost a man his ears, as a sower of 
sedition.” And a wrangle ensued. 

“ Ho !” said another, who had listened to the end ; “ but it 
is a shade gentler than former placards. The governor of 
Tournay declares that every man, woman, and child, who 
goes to the preaching is liable to die for that bare fact ; and 
here is proclainaed only banishment.” 

“Banishment, forsooth 1” rejoined the first speaker ; "would 
they banish the whole nation of Flanders ? That would not 
serve their turn. Many a one of us would like well enough a 
free passage to England, where folk may preach and hearken 
as they list.” 

“ Ay, that they may,” said a young sailor, who had pressed 
himself forward within the last few minutes. " I, a Ghent- 
man born, and not in your streets an hour agone, after long 
travel, have seen enough contrast already to make me shame- 
faced of my English mates ; and this morning’s work not 
least.” 

He was working his way further through the crowd when a 
woman’s hand caught his arm. 

. "Karl!” 

"Lyskenl” Then and there he embraced her. "Good 
folk, I am just off a two years’ voyage to the Spanish Indies, 
and need crave no pardon for gladness to see my sister,” he 
said to the bystanders. And who was happier than Lysken 
as she clung to his strong hand ? 

" So brown, Karl ” (thus she talked when they got beyond 
the crowd) ; “so sunburnt as you are, and with those outlandish 
yellow rings in your ears, and your long hair — I would not 
have known you, I think, but for the voice, How delighted 
our father will b<^ 1” 


In the Market' Pl<tce. c6t 

j. “Ay, -dear old father! Playing the carillons still ? Is his 
box of music any nearer finishing ? — I have a letter for him 
from my uncle in Antwerp, who, by the way, never was so 
gracious/^ 

You came through Antwerp 

“Our cargo was consigned there. Ah, Lysken, that’s a 
city ! Ghent is asleep. But as soon as I could, I travelled 
hither by Trekschuyt. And you are to come back with me — > 
our uncle wants us all to pay him a visit.” 

“ Our grand burgher uncle ?” 

“ Even so. He has a very splendid mansion, and young 
ladies of daughters, fine enough for countesses, I Warrant 
you.” 

“Karl, you frighten me more and more. Oh, Karll” 
suddenly remembering, and checking his march. 

“ What ails now 

She had quite forgotten the friend with whom she came to 
market, the Vrouw van Muler. But looking round, they saw 
that the patient woman had extricated herself from the crowd, 
and was walking quietly along at a little distance behind; 
and, moreover, was carrying both baskets — Lysken’s, aban- 
doned in her eagerness, and her own. 

“I am ashamed of myself!” 

“Nay, child, it was a rare joy,” said tlie widow. “No 
wonder you should forget.” 

Karl took his place as the burden-bearer, and they pro- 
ceeded through the Mannekens Street, where lies the enormous 
cannon of hammered iron, made and used in the days of 
Philip the Good. Bdfore a blank convent wall nearly opposite, 
a crowd had assembled ; there was considerable merriment 
and a pressing to the front for good places ; doubtless some- 
thing was to be seen, and Karl must see it. 

He came back laughing, after a ienr^thened stare “ A.n 


62 


Within Sea Waits, 

excellent caricature, dame! Done by no unskilful hand 
either : there be a whole company of geese, being men with 
geese’s heads, and a fox in monk’s cowl and frock marshalling 
them all up towards a great fire prepared for cooking ; in the 
corner is an old fellow looking on, whose square cap beareth 
the name Erasmus, and he saith : ‘ Purgatory is the fire, they 
so dearly love, for It keeps their kettle boiling.’ ” 

The widow turned pale and caught Lysken’s skirt. “ Come 
on, come on,” she said, hurriedly. *‘’Tis no right subject for 
a jest but the young sailor could not see the incongruity. 

“ Why may not true men laugh at lies } and these portrayals 
are common enough, or were in my time, two years ago. 
Only, 1 would scarce be in his place that made the design, if 
he be discovered by any worshipful bloodhound.” 

It was the fact that such pictorial pasquinades, drawn with 
brush or charcoal in fresco style, or previously prepared and 
pasted on the walls, were very popular among the Flemings, 
and equally detested by the Church and the government. 
Since early morning had this rude drawing amused a never- 
ending concourse, some of whom seemed to constitute them- 
selves a guard for its protection. Conjectures were rife as to 
the author. When the Widow .van Muler went home, and 
laid out the brown loaf and cheese for her son Hans at his 
“ none-mete,” or supper, and had seen him eat his portion 
with good appetite — she came at once to the root of the 
matter. 

“ My boy, art weary of thy young life so soon, as to cast it 
away for a gaping crowd ? ” ^ 

He flushed violently. “ I did not think you would ha’ 

known it, mother ; surely you never saw ” 

“ That other night when your light burned so late, and I 
came to remind you of the hour, I saw those words about 
purgatory as you engrossed tliem, in great clear letters ; 


In the Market Place, 63 

methought it was some plans for the printers. But awhile 
ago it returned upon me. And I knew you to be an in- 
different good draughtsman.” 

Mother, I could not resist when I read the words as I was 
printing — I seemed to see so clear the whole scene ! And 
no one knows of it but myself ; I took counsel with none ; 
though I could not choose but laugh in my sleeve as I mixed 
with the people and heard their comments. Quoth one 
burgher, ‘ Master Erasmus, was able enough for stinging 
speeches ; but like a finger-post, he only showed the right way, 
and walked not in it himself : he is well set in the corner.’ 
Quoth another, ‘ I have been paying a ducat monthly for dead 
masses, and I’ll pay no longer.’ Mother,” added the youth in 
a graver tone, “ do you not think some persons might be 
moved to the truth by my picture ? ” 

“ My lad,” she answered, “ ’tis not for me to say what weak 
instrument the Almighty may use to break the fetters of the 
papacy from any soul ; but I fear me many a one will cast off 
purgatory who wins not heaven.” 

“Well, mother, my secret is safe with you, I know;’! and 
with that he set his cap on one side of his flaxen hair, and 
kissed her hand in the respectful manner of the time, ere he 
went back to the printing office. Edging towards the Manne- 
kens Street again, with intention to enjoy more of his secret 
triumph, his good-humoured face lengthened considerably to 
find that the city guards had torn down his cartoon, and were 
dispersing the spectators amid energetic brawling. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Karl. 

lAT pasquinade on the convent wall, and indeed 
all other occurrences of the morning, were quite 
forgotten by Lysken in her marvellous meeting 
with Karl. Scarce could she believe that here 
he was, her sailor brother, the hero of her 
thoughts, back from the mysterious seas of the 
New World, from the islands of spice, and 
dusky savages, and golden sands. 

Her uncle’s letter was likewise an absorbing 
subject. No trivial sheet of note-paper, as in 
these degenerate days of penny postage, but a 
large quarto of corded yellow paper, thick as 
vellum, with the address, — 

“To mine honoured brother, Master Gerard 
Franck, at his house in Ghent, — by the hands 
of his son, with speed,” read the carillon player, 
with much emotion. And when the silken string and the 
abundant wax were undone, they found it contained a warm 
invitation that the whole family should visit the writer. 

“But your uncle is rarely changed,” continued Franck, 
turning over the sheet in a puzzled way ; “ he having risen in 



Karl. 65 

the world, even to the dignity of burgher, had heretofore no 
welcome for poor relations.” 

“ Does he not tell the cause ? ” inquired Karl. “ He has 
become one of the Reformed ; and that which was a crime in 
his eyes when he heard it of you, father, is now a new tie of 
brotherhood.” 

" He hints something, but defers explanation till we meet. 
Now God be praised if that be really so ! My brother Floris 
one of the Reformed ! Who would have thought it, so 
swallowed up in this world’s gear as he seemed ! God be 
praised ! ” 

The carillon player rose from his seat, and bared his head 
as he looked upwards in gratitude, his blue eyes full of feeling. 
“And my brother Floris was always so wise, so clever,” he 
said. 

“ Somewhat has befallen him to change his tempers greatly,” 
observed Karl ; “ for he paid all the wage of his seamen 
without a grumble, he that was a proverb for hardness ; and 
though he was used to pass me by with a cold nod, he came 
near and put his hand upon me, father-like, and brought me 
to his house ; where I saw the grand young ladies 1 told you 
of, Lysken, all in ruff and farthingale of the newest fashion, 
playing the lute, and a certain new-fangled French instriament 
they call the spinet, so please you.” 

Respecting the build and mechanism of this new instrument 
the carillon player was very curious ; but his sailor son could 
not describe more than the shape. “ Come and see it for 
yourself, sir ; and a handsome house into the bargain. Why, 
father, this little place is scarce fit to be its porter s lodge,” 
said Karl, looking round. 

“ I hope there’s no danger of any of them coming here,” 
rejoined Lysken, quickly. 

“ No, my dear. The young ladies would be just as much 

F 


66 


Within Sea Walls, 


ashamed of our humble habitation as you could be, unless 
I much misjudge them, — all except Nina, — sweet, pale Nina.” 

“Which is she?” 

“ Oh, a sick one, whom the others flout. * Tell Cousin 
Lysken I shall love her, if she comes,’ she whispered me at 
parting. But her sisters asked the colour of your hair and eyes, 
and what was your height, and whether you could play music 
or dance a coranto, — in fact, whether you would be a rival 
to them.” 

“ I doubt my brother has not brought up his lasses well,” 
observed Gerard Franck. “’Twere unmannerly those close 
inquiries, unless from love. But I dare afiirm my Lysken’s 
fingers would excel their best on the lute.” 

“ I hope, I am sure, it may never come to the trial,” said 
Lysken, heartily. 

“ You would not be for this visit, then ?” 

“ Wait a little space, father.” 

“ Now will she set about a-rigging of her finery,” quoth 
Karl, mischievously. “ Spare thyself, little one ; their hand- 
maids have grander fashions than thou. Yet would I prefer 
my Lysken in a coif of pure linen to my fine-lady cousins* 
frizzled heads stuck with shining gewgaws.” 

The pulling of his hair which the first part of his speech 
brought on him was exchanged for a most amiable smoothing 
down of the same as he ended it. “ Thou art a dear Karl 
still,” said his gratified sister. “ I’ll think no more of them, 
or only of kind Nina. But tell me — tell me of thy travels. 
Is it true in the far Indies there be butterflies carrying a 
burning light as soon as the dark comes, — like moving stars 
among the trees?” 

This and many other marvels he related to her. How 
gorgeous birds, the size of bees, hummed among vast pinnacles 
of flowers tall as a ship-mast ; how fishes glided through the 


Karl 


67 


sea, and at sight of an enemy sprang into the air, winged ! 
Hardly was this to be credited ; nor that he had never seen 
that common wonder of the ocean, in which everybody 
believed — a mermaid combing her yellow hair, and singing 
a sweet song, while floating on the restless waves. 

How happy was the family that day! Ay, though they 
were under the cloud of Lutheranism, and exposed to an in- 
definite number of pains and penalties. Matter enough lay 
against Franck for his arrest at any time. Not but Karl 
made very light of the prohibited books missing from the 
tower. Fearless by nature, and more fearless by the habit 
of his profession, danger should be very palpable ere he 
recognised it. 

“ ril get up to that tower my own self, and pull a joy-bell 
for the triumphant return of Karl Franck, master mariner,’* 
spoke the youth, playfully. 

“ Nay, do you that, father ; play very happy carillons to- 
night for Karl ! ” And as it was asked, so was it afterwards 
performed. 

Brother and sister stood in the street, and listened to. 
the glad notes raining down among the circling swallows. 

Then the two families must be together, sharers of the 
pleasures of re-union. The Van Mulers assembled in Franck’s 
tiled kitchen to sup on the best dainties Lysken could prepare 
on so short a notice, with Karl (who, sailor-like, could turn 
his hand to anything) for her able assistant. 

When the father came in, after an absence so lengthened 
as to cause Lysken some vague uneasiness, he had great news. 

“ Nay, my dear, but I have been at burgher Van Munk’s, 
hearing all about the struggles of the Reformed at Antwerp. 
The Prince of Orange himself is there.” 

“Ay, I could have told you that,” observed Karl. “ I saw* 


68 


Within Sea Walls, 


his entry. I should have been home a couple of days sooner 
but for it. Folk were all so demented about him, the public 
boat stopped for a holiday, and I could get no passage.” 

‘"And you never mentioned it,” said his father, half re- 
proachfully. “ Like a sailor, forgetful.” 

“ Nay, and how was I to know you cared ? And this young 
woman had rather hear of the lantern-flies of San Domingo. 
Well, a right worshipful seignior is he as ever I beheld, and 
a right royal clamour they made about him.” 

“Good cause have they,” interposed Franck. “If any man 
saves us from the Inquisition it will be the Prince of Orange, 
— ^so burgher Van Munk says.” 

“ I can tell you, then, the Prince did not like the demonstra- 
tion. More than once and again he checked the people, and 
would have none of their shouting ‘ Long live the Beggars.’ 
It is credibly affirmed that he said to Count Brederode that 
he would make all men unlearn that mischievous watchword.” 

“ Rightly. The drinking and dicing of Brederode and his 
company show them unfit to put a hand to the ark of God.” 

“ By the way, that same watchword puzzled me not a little, 
dll mine uncle explained. Quoth I, Flemings were not wont 
much to admire beggary, but rather thrift and opulence. 
Quoth he, this is only a nickname the Duchess’s councillors 
gave to the gentlemen who presented her with a request that 
she would abate the Inquisition. Quoth I, then Pm one of 
the Gueux already, being a beggar both ways, — by nature, 
not owning a stiver; and by principle, in that I would abate 
the Inquisitors by hanging them up.” 

“ Softly, son.” Franck went to the outer door, looked up 
and down the little street, and duly drew the bolts behind him. 

“ What, you have eavesdroppers and spies in Ghent } Well, 
I am accustomed to the license of the high seas, with no ear 
nearer you than some shore away a thousand miles.” 


Karl 


69 


The youth Hans van Muler heaved a sigh. 

‘‘Would you like the life ? Come, my credit is good enough 
to find you a berth in the old caravel at her next outfitting.” 

With a quick glance at his mother, — “ No, no ; I like the 
printing well. There is scarce a nobler employ on earth, 
methinks.” 

“ Every man to his liking,” responded the brawny young 
sailor, shrugging his shoulders. “ Free air and free life for me.” 

“ Thou art shut up in a wooden prison afloat for months, 
and canst not get out on peril of drowning,” put in his father, 
with a sly smile. 

“ Even so, sir,” said Karl, slightly disconcerted. “ But you 
wanted to hear of the Prince of Orange. All Antwerp was 
on the road to meet him, — at least, all that was not packed 
in the streets, or lining the ramparts, or piled on the roofs 
of houses.” 

“ Where were you, Karl ?” 

“In my uncle’s balcony ; and right well he looked, riding 
among the merchants in his suit of velvet, escorting the 
Prince.” 

“ Oh, Karl, what is he like ?” 

“ My uncle ? A stout old gentleman.” 

“ You surely mistake,” said the carillon player. “ When I 
knew my brother, he was slim as a poplar.” 

“ I asked what the Prince of Orange was like,” said Lysken, 
laughing. 

“ Ah I woman’s curiosity ! As gallant a nobleman as you 
could wish to behold ; dark hair and moustache, and beard 
peaked, as I shall wear mine — when I have one ; clear brown 
eyes, with a world of thinking in them ; and when he lifted 
his plumed cap to bow, a forehead wide enough to hold brains 
for us all. The sight of him, riding so calm and silent among 
that storm of voices, somehow it stilled me, — I could shout 


70 Within Sea Walls. 

no more. He’s a man for doing more than for saying — mark 
me in that.” 

“And knows the value of the people’s acclaim : ’tis wisdom,” 
said Franck. 

“Would make a noble admiral to sail into strange seas 
with, and trust utterly, through storms and shoals, and pirates 
and mutiny!” was Karl’s enthusiastic judgment. 

“ ’Tis an instinct towards our natural protector makes so 
many men deem thus of him, as the burgher says.” ' 

“ What is the Prince’s business in Antwerp at this present ?” 
asked the Widow van Muler, raising her face from her lace- 
work. 

“ It seems he is burgrave of the city by hereditary right ; 
and the Duchess-regent besought him to go thither at this 
juncture, and compose the differences between the magistracy 
and the Reformed, who have been holding public meetings 
in all directions. Verily it was thought there would have 
been broken heads but for his coming ; and my uncle says 
he will procure liberty of worship in the suburbs, at least.” 

“Burgher van Munk had it that he called together the 
corporation of ward-masters, the deans of trades, even the 
guilds of ‘rhetoric,’ to consult with them, — a very proper 
respect for all classes of the citizens,” added Gerard Franck. 

“ Oh, if it were to be settled by their will, the issue could 
not be doubtful: the Reformed are six to one throughout 
Flanders, according to my uncle. But truly if it be so, never 
were a majority more put upon. Why they don’t rise, and 
fling these tyrannical churchmen over the dykes ” 

“ Karl, Karl, you will assuredly be lodged in some dungeon, 
if you don’t have a care ! ” 

And it was just then that everybody heard distinctly the 
steady march of several men approaching the house. 



^ ^arrau; Escape. 

VERY face whitened at the sound, — that of the 
widow was death-like. “Oh my son!” she 
uttered, in a suppressed voice, for the tread of 
the armed men had stopped ; and knocking at 
the opposite door followed. 

Hans stood up, scarcely knowing what he did. 
“ It’s the provost’s men, of course. I’ll go. I’ll 
tell them ” 

“ Are you mad ? What’s this about ? ” asked 
Franck, whose own heart quaked, for a good 
reason why. “ What has the boy done .«* ” 

The mother explained in a few words. “ Hide 
him at once,” said Karl. “Father, there used 
to be a hollow place under the tiling above your 
workshop and a way to the roof. Stay quiet all 
of you. Hans and I can manage it.” 

The young sailor seemed quite in his element 
during the emergency. He would not take a light up-stairs, 
lest it should be noticed by the enemy outside. The noise of 
breaking in the door opposite did not flurry him ; he coolly 
went on piling the furniture for Hans’ retreat 




72 


Within Sea Walls. 


" I wonder if they will ask questions here. So it was you 
that made that picture on the wall. Very clever, Hans ; but I 
fear me you wore the goose’s head yourself when you stuck it 
up. Somebody must have seen you. Well, I hope they’ll 
have the pleasure of a good hunt for you, and no find.” So 
spoke Karl, as he led the way. 

“ Oh, my poor mother ! I care not but for her ! ” 

*‘And she cares not but for you. Climb now, like a cat. 
Lie down flat on the outer tiling, and do not stir till I call 
you.” 

The provost’s men had struck a light, and were ransacking 
the poor little house opposite, with a due disregard of property. 
Every cupboard was dashed open, every bed pierced with a 
rapier, all books and papers jealously gathered and confiscated. 
Neighbours, roused up, could not, or did not choose to tell 
anything. Karl himself promptly answered the summons at 
his father’s door. That day come home from beyond seas, 
what could he be expected to know of a printer’s apprentice 
who never stirred out of Ghent } And if the sergeant liked 
to see his discharge from his ship, the Royal Philip of 
Antwerp 

“ Nay, sailor is writ plain enough on thy visage and in thy 
speech,” said the soldier, first glancing in-doors on what 
seemed to be a frightened family circle. And they went 
their way empty-handed and growling. 

Karl came in, closed the door carefully, and, as the footfalls 
became more distant, he began silently and exultingly to 
dance. 

Cease, thou wild fellow ! ” exclaimed his father, sternly. 

“ Sir, the women be ready to faint, — the Vrouw van Muler 
and my sister Lysken. I want to give a shock to their 
feelings the other way. Now to make them laugh were an 
incongruous shock at present. And I do fain believe that, 







^'/r 


[\ll ' “ 



















75 


A Narrow Escape, 

had I not been here, 'Hans would have walked out into the 
snare of the fowler. It reminds me of a story I had from 
mine uncle in Antwerp, about Red-rod ^ meeting an inquisitor. 

‘ How,’ quoth he, ‘ how is it that you, so slenderly attended, 
durst arrest heretics, while I exercise my office at peril of my 
life, though well guarded and armed ? ’ ‘ Ah,’ answered the 

inquisitor, * I have nothing to fear ; for my business is only to 
take good people, who bear no arms, nor make any resistance.* 

‘ Well,’ replied Red-rod, ‘ if you take all the good men, and 1 
all the bad, we shall stock the prisons bravely between us ! * 

“ But now you want to be sure that Hans is safe.” So 
saying, Karl went up to the hiding-place, presently returning 
with his friend, who was received as one alive from the dead, 
with tears and solemn gladness. 

“And when I am questioned to-morrow, as I am well 
assured the matter will not be let • Vest here,” asked the 
distressed mother, “ what can I say } — what can I do ? ” 

“ Say nothing, — do nothing,” counselled Karl. “ Surely 
they could never be so barbarous as to expect you to bear 
witness against your own son .? Belike they had mothers 
themselves, some time or other ! ” 

“They scruple not at any means,” said Franck. “There 
was a very ancient woman at Courtrai, and she was brought 
before the Grand Inquisitor of Flanders, the Dean of Rouen — ” 
“ Trouble not to tell me his hateful name, sir,” interposed 
Karl, with energetic gesture. “ One of the crew of wretches 
who shed innocent blood, — that will do.” 

“ My Karl, thy tongue is a fire. The inquisitor told her 
that she had forfeited life and estate, according to the Placards, ^ 
because she had harboured her own son, Daniel Verkampt, a 

* An officer of justice so called. 

* The edicts of Charles the Fifth and Philip the Second for the suppression of 
heresy were popularly so called. 


Within Sea Walls. 


76 


heretic. ‘My lords/ said she, ‘ am I to .forfeit life and estate 
for sheltering mine own son, whom I bore in his infancy, and 
educated with great trouble and charge ? — who is neither 
rogue nor thief, but was counted the most hopeful young man 
in our village! — only because you say he is a heretic.^ 
Indeed, my lords, if I could have borne this my son once 
more, and brought him up again with the same trouble, and 
pain, and care, — you ought to know how freely I would under- 
go all, to hide him from you safely.’ The judges were so 
moved with her eloquence, that they set her free.” 

“Ah, there was something human in them still. But no 
matter, — I’ll cut the knot in this case ; for his mother shan’t 
know where he is, nor any of you. Only all must hold their 
peace. If Ghent be so full of spies as my father thinks, they 
will surely watch the street.” 

Next evening, in tjie dusk, the brother and sister, as it 
seemed, left Franck’s house, walking handed, as was common 
with such near relations, and without molestation directed 
their steps towards the barges on the nearest canal. 




CHAPTER XI, 

Kina and her ^ome, 

HERE was a small terraced court-yard attached 
to burgher Floris Franck s handsome house in 
Antwerp, ornamented with evergreens shapen 
like monsters, and a round fountain in the 
midst. Beds of tulips, brilliant as jewelled 
stripes edging a grey robe, lay four-square in 
the stone pavement ; and on the brink of the 
water stood a large white stork, resting on one 
leg as a pillar, the other inscrutably hidden, and 
his beak and head turned back between the 
feathered cushions of his wings. 

“ I wonder how old he is !” said a pallid-faced 
girl, reclining on a couch within the room, by 
an open window, and having in her hands some 
needle-work. “ He looks so wise, or so stupid, 
I don’t know which ; but he might be any age.” 
« Ay — young people are apt to think the old ones stupid, 
until they find out that sobriety is wisdom,” rejoined an 
elderly woman-servant, who had somewhat more than the 
suspicion of a soft moustache, and was engaged in arranging 
the cushions of Nina’^ couch. 



Within Sea Walls, 


78 

‘*Come now, Ursel, I can’t let you be cross. Like a good 
Ursel, finish this little wrapping-coat I was making for Widow 
Dirkson’s baby. Ah me I I know not why my fingers so soon 
are weary, even in the service of God’s poor.” 

“Easy enough to tell,” tartly observed the old servant, 
‘‘ after two hours’ striving like a seamstress ; and that very 
thing brought me out o’ doors.” 

“ Sit down then, and I shall read to you. See ! that stork 
positively winks at me with his wonderful old eye, as if 
defying me to make him out.” 

“ None of the neighbours remember any time that his nest 
was not up there,” said Ursel, glancing at the many-gabled 
roof. “ And if he were to fly away — oh, the bad omen !” 

“Ursel, I don’t believe in omens. Do you think God lets 
the birds of the air know what is going to happen ?” 

“ The greatest calamity that has befallen my master’s house 
since I knew him, the stork was missing for a whole day. 
You know that. Mistress Nina.” 

“Except, that I don’t think what happened a calamity, 
dear Ursel ; nor do you, unless when you have been talking 
to my Aunt Philippa.” 

For this house, like many another of the period, was divided 
against itself in the religious way : the sister of burgher 
Franck’s deceased wife adhering tenaciously to the ancient 
faith, while the three daughters followed their father. 

“ How will it turn out, Mistress Nina, how will it all end ? 
That’s the question of people who have lived as long as I have, 
and Madam Philippa,” said the old servant, pursing up her 
lips wisely. 

“Well, Ursel, I am sure you are right to look at the ending. 
Only, I would take the longest view, if I were you. I would 
look at the other life as well as this one. I would do what- 
ever was best for the eternal life.” 


Nina and her Home. 


79 

“And as Madam Philippa says, the grand old Church, with 
all its popes, and emperors, and kings, giving place to a 
scurvy company of weavers, and armourers, and dyers, and 
the like ! Mistress Nina, they do say ” 

“What?” when she hesitated. 

“Nay, ’twill anger ye. ’Twas only that they say Master 
Franck would not be so ready among the Reformed, an he 
were nobly born.” 

Nina sighed, while a little natural flush came over her. “ I 
remember the gospel where it says ‘Not many noble.’ So it 
is quite true, Ursel.” 

“ Not but some think that ranks will get a great upsetting 
in the next world ; and I for my part think noble is that 
noble does, most times.” 

Her young mistress seemed to wish for no more con- 
versation ; she took up a small book lying at her side, and 
began to read some of the devout musings of the pious 
Thomas a Kempis, — in his Imitation of Jesus Christ. 
After a page or two she ceased, and began to sing in a low 
sweet voice a Flemish version of St. Bernard’s glorious 
“ Hymn on the Perpetuity of Joy in Heaven.” 

Hie breve vivitur, hie breve plangitur, hie breve fletur ; 

Non breve vivere, non breve plangere, retribuetur.” 

Englished in many shapes : notably in that which begins— 
“Brief life is here our portion.” 

As she went on in the verses, heart sepmed to warm and 
voice to expand, till it was as the music of a bird, clear, 
thrilling, seeming to descend from heavenly places, rather 
than rise from earth. The delicate face became bright, all 
lassitude faded out of it; the large eyes waxed luminous, 
spirit had conquered the clog of matter for a space : Nina felt 
no longer weak, sickly, shrunken — she had looked into the 


8o 


Within Sea Walls. 


glory of the future, ^he was within the “ ageless walls ” of the 
city built up with jasper and amethyst, where “ the Lamb is 
all the splendour.” 

And old Ursel, whose thoughts had never got farther than 
her seam during the reading of a book, being accustomed to 
set down all printed matter as too deep for her, — she had 
actually a tear stealing down her withered cheek. 

“ What, Ursell, crying ! And it makes me so happy ! ” 

“Ay, and another person also. Mistress Nina,” said a 
strange voice behind the couch. “ I never heard such music,” 
added the young man emphatically. 

“ Oh, Cousin Karl ! ” and all the earth-shadows were about 
her again. “ I thought you were in Ghent ! ” 

“ So I was, but I’ve come back to ask a favour. There’s a 
young townsman with me for whom I want friendliness and 
shelter, and your father is absent.” 

“He and my sisters are at a preaching. But my^ Aunt 
Philippa ” 

“ Is gone to her devotions at Our Lady’s ; this being St. 
Rumbold’s day,” interposed old Ursel. 

“ Inform her of the visitors as soon as she returns. Such 
welcome as I can give your friend. Cousin Karl, he hath 
heartily.” 

Karl went to the door of the arcade, skirting the court-yard, 
brought back Hans van Muler, and introduced him with a 
few words. “ I desired the serving-man to leave us when I 
heard you singing. Cousin Nina. I wish you would sing 
again.” 

“No: I cannot sing hymns merely to amuse people. But 
where is your sister, the Lysken that you promised me } ” 

When answer was given, and in family talk the stranger was 
overlooked, she turned to him with shy courtesy, where he 
stood cap in hand, thinking, verily^ what a good initial letter 









Nhia and her Home. 83 

for a piece of printing monsieur stork would make, cut upon 
wood, as was typographers’ fashion at that time. 

“ This young gentleman is skilled in printers* work, you 
say.?*’ she held out to Hans her copy of The Imitation. “I 
have heard that good judges admire this little book, sir.” 

The youth took it with an obeisance. “ True, my lady; 
it is Venetian printing of the finest — worthy of Aldus himself : 
And oh ! the illuminations ! ” 

A blush at his own enthusiasm was plainly perceptible 
through his fair skin. “ Illuminations by the pen and brush. 
What clear colouring ! A rare hand indeed, lady.” 

“ Some of the work you would like, Hans .? ” observed Karl, 
patronisingly. And as the old servant had gone to see for 
Madam Philippa’s return, he informed Nina wherefore the 
young man needed protection. 

“Yet if it were to do again, I would not do it ; ’twere but a 
boy’s freak,” said Hans. “ And I stood not alone, but must 
bring sharp trouble upon others, and for no good reason. 
It was not as if I were suffering simply for the truth’s sake.” 

“ That were worth while .? ” asked Nina. 

“ Truly, surely ; best worth doing in all the world, madam,'* 
said the printer’s apprentice. 

She smiled in a satisfied way, after a minute’s study of his 
open countenance. 

“ I want him to get into a caravel I know of, shipping for 
the Florida seas, where be as yet no inquisitors,” said the 
sailor; “but he wills not to leave the Netherlands nor his 
calling, and says there be none nobler, forsooth : which in 
truth I comprehend not,” added travelled and illiterate Karl, 
with slight contempt. 

“ What say you for your calling. Master van Muler ? ” asked 
Nina, leaning her cheek on her hand. 

Scarce worthi^ am I to praise it, madam ; yet methinks 


Within Sea Walls, 


84 

the world was darkened before printing came : does it not 
give a thousand voices to the writer, for his one aforetime? 
does it not speak without a sound to the hearts of men, and 
move them like trumpets ? And publishes God’s Word so 
that all the kings of the earth might as well essay to stop the 
daylight spreading ” 

Enter Madam Philippa, stiff and starched as her own ruff, 
with Book of Hours and rosary in hand ; at sight of which 
Hans thought he had got again into the enemy’s camp. Of 
course she would salute any visitor brought by her brother’s 
nephew (herewith a sweeping curtsey) ; but strangers were 
too much for Nina, and she must invite them to the with- 
drawing-room of the family, where Karl found the dignity 
of the Catholic lady so overwhelming, that he presently con- 
cluded he would brave any danger of recognition, either of 
himself or Hans, which might exist in the public thorough- 
fares, rather than endure it longer. 

***** 

The quays and docks, where lay ships, and his mates would 
be met, and Hans tempted to a seafaring life, were Karl’s 
object; but not a step could he bring Hans past the great 
cathedral. What a tower ! what a spire ! In the wide world 
could there be such another ? The point of the frozen lace- 
work seemed to pierce the far sky. They passed it a few 
yards round a corner, owing to Karl’s remonstrances that 
they might be observed with suspicion; but Hans walked 
back again as if half dazed ; a needle to the magnet \t'as his 
artist-nature to that sublime architecture. And then descended 
the carillon of the hour, music from its hundred bells. 

“ Well, let us go within, if you are determined to travel 
no further,” said Karl, good-humouredly. “ Better be moon- 
«itnVken before few witnesses than many;” and they entered. 


Nina ajtd her Home, 


8s 

A five-fold nave of clustered columns rose into dim distance 
above their heads, and stretched before them in vistas that 
seemed illimitable. When details could be looked at, it was 
perceived that Art had pleased itself with devising every 
variety of ornament for capital and finial ; the mighty windows 
were sheets of jewelled mosaic. Centuries had piled up wealth 
in the scores of chapels and shrines ; precious things crusted 
the very walls. 

“In good sooth, but the place reminds me of a tropic forest 
in the Caribbeans,” whispered Karl — “ so dim and vast-like, 
so far aloft — and strange creatures looking at you out of the 
boughs,” and he pointed to a grotesque gargoyle. 

“ Oh, that it were a temple of the living God ! ” sighed the 
young printer. 

“ And not of a dead woman,” added Karl. “ Ay, here’s the 
big blot;” as they came before the colossal image of the 
Virgin, whence the cathedral was named Notre Dame. Her 
dress stiff with seed pearls, her very shoes blazing with a 
rainbow light of gems, her jewellery worth a royal ransom ; 
how amazed would have been humble-minded Mary of Naza- 
reth, could she see her modern representative ! 

Other people were wandering about, or worshipping in the 
great circles. A little peering man drew near. 

“ You don’t bow to her, messieurs,” jerking his thumb dis- 
respectfully towards the image. “No more do I. And we 
both know the reason, do we not ?” 

He waited for no answer. It was just a sample of the 
public free speech, expressed where safe ; a bubble to show 
the tide which was rising against graven images, and in less 
than a month from that date would sweep them all away. 

» « « « ^ 

Madam Philippa iielaxed her stony demeanour at the warm 


86 


Within Sea Walls 


praise given her grand cathedral by the young stranger. “ It 
is the pride of the Catholic world,” she declared. “ Our late 
Emperor Charles, whom the saints protect ! — he compared the 
fretwork to lace of Malines. A hundred years was that tower 
in building — four feet of progress only in each year — think of 
that! And within — saw you the chapels of the twenty-six 
guilds the banners of the Golden Fleece ? Bah ! the new 
religion deeming to overcome that splendour.” 

“ My lady, the apostles had none of it,” ventured Hans. 

A well-bred stare put him down. “ Oh, you are of the 
mechanic sect — I had forgotten :” and not a word more, 
though scrupulous as to the honours of the table. Simple 
Hans was well nigh overcome with these already, never having 
supped with a burgher’s family before, or seen the state 
affected by their class. Silver flagons of beer to each one, 
from the tall beaufets against the wall covered with tankards 
and beakers and salvers shining again ; but Floris Franck 
himself drank ale from a brown bowl of Dinant ware. Hip- 
pocras and other spiced drinks were at the service of the 
guests, rose-water bathed their hands. 

Other company was at supper that evening, which Madam 
Philippa specially disliked, — Huguenot friends from the field- 
meeting, chief among them the Dauphinese preacher. Peregrine 
de Lagrange. Nothing but a keen unwillingness to resign 
the headship of her brother’s handsome house kept her playing 
the hostess to guests so distasteful. 

Burgher Franck, an energetic, practical man, was full of 
the news of the day. “ It is necessary in these times,” he 
explained to his nephew, “ to make a protest, and show one’s 
colours ; so we all went to the preaching, the larger number 
the better, and beyond doubt we had a multitude I When 
our burgrave the Prince legalised Reformed meetings in 
Antwerp suburbs, our congregations fell off somewhat.” 


Nina and her Home. 


s; 

Madam Philippa smiled triumphantly. "So much for 
political excitement, and opposition to established authority,’^ 
said she, picking to pieces a sugar confection. “Be those 
your animating principles, forsooth!” 

The burgher turned his broad shrewd kindly face on her 
withered sour one, and went on : “When rumour had it that 
the Sheriff of Brabant was gathering troops to put us down, 
the congregations swarmed forth again, carrying arms. I do 
not relish the carrying of arms. Pastor Lagrange!” 

The person, to whom he spoke was not sympathetic on this 
point. Filled with the fiery blood of the south, he was known 
to gallop to his field-preaching, and fire a pistol as the signal 
for attention, and then discourse with a native eloquence and 
fervour that rnelted all listeners, 

“ The weapons are right, burgher.” he answered. “ I am 
satisfied with the Master’s declaration, when He said He 
came not to send peace on earth, but a sword. Our life must 
be a battle : we did not accept the gospel for ease or sloth.” 

And yet Christ’s kingdom is not of this world.. And He 
said to Peter, Put up thy sword.” 

“ Because all that take it perish with it. I look for nought 
else. These are no times for Christian ministers to die in 
their beds. They must set the example, fight in the fore- 
front, lead up to the breach, walk to the mouth of the 
culverins, though roaring. What ! shall we look for easier 
lives and softer deaths than Paul or Peter ? 

A year after those words were remembered, when news 
came that the dauntless Dauphinese pastor had been put to 
death at Valenciennes. He received the condemnation “as if 
it had been an invitation to a marriage feast,” and on the 
scaffold proclaimed that “ he was slain for having preached 
the pure Word of God to a Christian people in a Christian 
land.” And so Peregrine de Lagrange went to his crown. 



CHAPTER XII. 

fn Riding. 

HE Burgher Franck had risen to his present 
position by indefatigable industry, as well as 
ability ; by neglecting no trifle, and in all things 
following that code of intuitive maxims which 
have ever guided successful men. About noon 
on the following day he might have been seen 
going to a street dark with stores and ware- 
houses, where he was known to have a house 
packed with goods, and stopped at a small door 
on the edge of a canal. To the very step of 
the threshold flowed the dark deep water. He 
knocked, or rather rubbed with his fingers, and 
after some short pause was admitted by a one- 
armed sailor. 

Alles gaet wel, Tan ?” 

To which the Dutchman replied in the affirm- 
ative that all was right, and having barred the door, quietly 
lay down on a convenient plank to resume a previous slumber. 
Franck passed through a long half-lighted apartment, stum- 
bling more than once over boxes and barrels, until he reached 
the foot of a ladder, and ascdnd'ed. 



In Hiding. 89 

It gave access to a wide, low loft, stowed also with bales 
and packages, but having the farthest end, near a small 
shattered window, cleared, with an attempt at arrangement. 
A man sitting here, at a rude table of boards littered with 
books and papers, was so engrossed in his writing, that he 
heard nothing till the burgher advanced within a few paces. 

This was Franciscus Junius, pastor of the Reformed Church 
at Antwerp, at present in hiding from his enemies. A remark- 
able man, born of a noble French family at Bourges, and 
educated at Geneva ; he so distinguished himself by his parts 
and learning, that at the age of twenty he was deemed worthy 
of this important post. It was the very place to call forth 
his transcendent talent and brace his earnest piety. “ Greatest 
of all theologians since the days of the apostles,” wrote the 
learned Scaliger. Never was hero more devoid of fear. It 
is on record that he preached to a secret congregation in a 
room off the market-place, while the windows were lit by the 
flames consuming certain of their brethren. 

The more earnest nobles of the Compromise were not slow 
to perceive his value and to use him. He preached before 
them in Count Kulenberg’s Brussels mansion, under the very 
eyes of the Regent, on that day in November, 1565, when her 
son, the Prince of Parma, was married to Mary of Portugal ; 
and he was now the centre of a large correspondence con- 
cerning Protestant interests, whence he gathered essential 
facts and hints for the guidance of the leaders. 

Consequently he had the honour of being well hunted by 
the adversary. Just a few weeks ago came a painter, pro- 
fessing himself a convert, who gained admission to the meet- 
ings of the Reformed, and employed himself while there in 
sketching a careful likeness of the preacher. It was delivered 
to Her Highness the Regent, along with minute statements of 
the residence and habks of Junius ; the domestics of the house 


Within Sea Walls, 


90 

were corrupted and threatened, and officers sent to apprehend 
him. But God had more work for this intrepid servant, and 
he escaped to Breda for that time. Since then he had been 
at St. Trond, with Peregrine de Lagrange for his companion. 
They were deputed to present to the assembled nobles a 
Confession of Faith, drawn up in the very words of Scripture; 
but the mission came to nought, “ by reason of the unseason- 
able interposition of certain persons, whom the Lord forgive,’* 
he writes, in his autobiography. 

“ Coming by the stadthouse even now,” said Franck, “ I 
heard four hundred guilders offered by proclamation for dis- 
covering the author of a letter such as that,” and he pointed 
to the half-filled sheet. “ Your very writing. Master Junius.” 

The young man smiled. “There shall not a hair of your 
head perish,” he murmured in French to himself ; and then 
in the Waloon patois, “Count Egmont makes objection to 
my counsel, for that I am a French Calvinist. I write to say 
such I am, and the truer friend to religious liberty.” 

“But it were natural from the victor of St. Quentin,” re- 
joined the burgher. “ And indeed I fear me he is too thorough 
a Catholic to be relied on in our straits.” 

“ Ah, my friend ; if we wait for the Lord’s work to be done 
by truly Reformed men, and reject all other aid, then must 
we needs go out of the world. And his lordship of Egm.ont 
is valuable for his opposition to the edicts. He declared to 
the Duchess-regent herself that he would not fight any man 
living in defence of the placards and Inquisition. Whoso 
is not against us is on our part, so far. Perchance this con- 
sistent opposition of the highest nobles in the land, these 
great popular demonstrations such as yesterday’s (I hear there 
were twenty thousand gathered), may turn His Majesty from 
the advice of ill counsellors, and induce him at last to abolish 
persecution, and accept the great fact of the Reformation.” 


91 


In Hiding, 

Floris Franck shook his grey head. “ Sanguine, too sanguine 
hope! I tell you, Master Junius, Philip must first cease to 
be Philip. He hath a most haughty and obdurate nature, 
though the fashion it be to call him ‘ clement and debonnair.’ 
Do I not remember him from his very boyhood } I mind 
me of a sight long since, of a royal progress made by his late 
father, the emperor ; and so ill-conditioned and sullen did 
his present Majesty behave, that never for all the applause 
and glory of the multitudes would he move his bonnet, though 
the emperor went ofttimes bare, here, passing the streets of 
Antwerp. At last the emperor, as angered, hit him a great 
box on the ear, in presence of all. ‘ Take that,’ he cried. ‘ Did 
your tutors teach you those manners.?’ But it was not the 
tutors’ fault. And look you what the same king did help to 
do in England, while married to their Queen. Look what he 
be doing every day in Spain. The world hath heard of the 
cruel burnings at Valfadolid and Seville.” 

“No popular movement backs the Reformed in Spain. 
Here, behold the country alive with congregations! You 
have heard of the stir in Holland and Zetland .? ” And from 
his mass of correspondence he drew particulars, which we 
shall condense. How that the Dutch pastor, Jan Arentzoon 
(aforetime a basket-maker), had opened the campaign by 
preaching in a field near Horn, in North Holland : the magi- 
strates came to hear, and were not displeased. How the 
Amsterdam people longed for the same privilege ; and at 
last, a brave man proclaimed in the merchants’ street 
(equivalent of the modern exchange) that next day there 
would be sermons near Harlem, and near Alkmaar. How, 
when the burgomaster and council condescended to spread 
false reports to keep the citizens at home, a burgher, Reiner 
Kant, charged them with the deceit, adding, “ Though you 
try by these contrivances to prevent the preaching, yet shall 


92 


Within Sea Walls, 


it surely come to pass, for the Word of the Lord must have 
its course, nor can even the devil prevent, or in anywise 
obstruct it.” How that when the gates of the city were shut 
and guarded, people leapt the walls and swam the moats ; 
and multitudes, foreseeing that measure, had lain all night in 
the fields, and were rewarded when Peter Gabriel the minister 
appeared, and for four hours preached and prayed, “ though 
he was a man weak and infirm,” and concluded with such 
ardent prayer for the rulers of the land, the wolves scaring 
these sheep, that “ scarce a dry eye was to be seen.” 

The fugitive printer’s apprentice was not forgotten in this 
day’s routine of business. “ I want a line from your hand to 
some printer in these provinces,” said Franck, and he told of 
Hans van Muler. The search after such evil-doers was so 
keen, that his description was probably ere now in the pos- 
session of the Antwerp authorities, and the sooner he could 
cross the Rhine the better. 

“ I have hired him as a new hand in one of my hoys bound 
for Rotterdam,” said the burgher. 

“Rotterdam,” repeated Junius. “He could easily reach 
Leyden thence, where Arnoldzoon prints at the sign of the 
Golden Key.” Then in a changed tone, “ What is it all, but 
an education for the young believer ; a fastening of him for 
ever in the truth for which he suffers 

The minister began rapidly to write on a fresh paper, and 
presently finished a letter, so worded as to compromise nobody, 
and yet be quite clear to him for whose eye it was finally 
intended. Necessity had led to the contrivance of a system 
of conventional terms jand feigned names, arranged between 
him and his correspondents. 

“ Let the youth quilt that in his doublet,” was the direction. 
“From Ghent, is he?” and Junius, turned over his papers. 


93 


In Hiding. 

Ay, here’s the letter : * These from an Augustin Monk, of 
Ghent, to the reverend pastor Franciscus Junius, of Antwerp. 
By safe hand.’ I doubt not but ’tis a soul coming out of their 
toils. He writes me to resolve certain questionings, which to 
my poor ability I have done : yet somewhat I would ever be 
adding, lest it be not clear, forgetting that my God makes the 
daylight. Hearken to his account : — ‘ I, being bitter against 
the Reformed, did, many weeks ago, search a certain tower, 
where I had cause to believe I would find prohibited books ; 
and truly I came upon a volume in leathern wrapping, bearing 
signs of much usage ; and the imprinted title was the reverend 
Master Martin Luther’s Commentary on the Epistle to the 
Galatians. As I took it, the page fell open at a certain place, 
and mine eyes saw words which arrested them, even as Paul 
was held fast by a shining light brighter than the noon-day. 
I write down here those words, which verily seemed as a voice 
speaking unto me : “ Wilt thou bring thy cowl, thy shaven 
crown, thy obedience, thy poverty, thy works, thy merits ? 
What shall all these do 1 What shall the works of all men, 
and all the sufferings of the martyrs profit thee What is 
the obedience of all the holy angels in comparison of the Son 
of God, delivered shamefully to the death of the cross, so that 
there was no drop of His precious blood but it was shed, and 
that for thy sins } If thou couldst rightly consider this 
incomparable price, thou wouldst hold as accursed all these 
ceremonies, vows, works, and merits before and after grace.” 
Since that time I have busied myself, in secret, with this same 
volume while the owner was absent ; and the more I read, the 
more I desired to read, until at length the scales seemed to 
fall from my eyes.’ 

“ The letter continueth : 

“ ‘ Now had my soul of a long season been in disquiet, 
although I was exact in my duties as ever Pharisee, and 


94 


Within Sea Walls, 


punished the flesh sorely with fastings and scourgings, and 
a cilice of hair about my body. Still I was constrained to 
cry out, “ Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!’* For I loved not 
God a whit more, but felt in myself the spirit of an alien. 
My heart did back the book in its saying of what avail are 
all these. And methought, that truly the Son of God has 
died, and truly He is infinite in value. What if I be despising 
and flouting His most blessed sacrifice, by adding my own 
miserable works ? Methought farther, I will to the Vulgate, 
and search out this matter closely, because in the universe 
there can be nothing to me more important. And for that I • 
had a fierce misliking for Master Luther’s writing, I would be 
satisficed with nought but every word of Holy Scripture itself, 
in the version of the blessed Saint Jerome.’ 

“Then he proceedeth to propound his doubts,” added 
Junius, folding up the voluminous epistle. 

“ And how do you advise him } ” 

“To come out of Babylon, and God will show him all light 
and truth,” said the minister. “ He is partaker of antichrist if 
he stayeth longer.” 

We have omitted to say that the signature attached to the 
letter just laid before our readers was that of “ GUY Regis.” 




CHAPTER XIII. 

^ans itauallad fmm ih^ Kath^t-land ta tba 
Ijallaw-Janil* 

HE chief guest-chamber in burgher Franck’s 
mansion was grandly furnished after the fashion 
of the time, having a most predominant 
bedstead, richly carven as to posts and head- 
board : also tapestried with hangings of mytho- 
logic design. A truckle bed, so low that it 
could be rolled away under the great one, and 
very mean in furniture, was pitched in the corner 
for Hans ; but the nephew of the house reversed 
Madam Philippa’s intention by stepping into it 
himself. 

“ There — the honourable couch for thee, young 
heretic and to all remonstrance answered, “’Tis 
better than a hammock, man ; ’tis luxury to a 
berth in the sides of a ship,” — and so fell asleep. 
The other had no such rapid slumber. Long 
he remained on his knees, with face upturned in the mellow 
moonlight, realizing God in his homeless condition as he had 
never realized Him in the mother’s nest. And Karl, his kind 
friend, who had risked so much for him, seemed to reali'^e 



Within Sea Walls. 


96 

nothing at all about that Supreme Providence and fatherly 
care, — nothing in this escape but human sharpness and pre- 
vision. During the days they had been together Hans had 
never seen him in prayer, never heard from his lips a recog- 
nition of God. 

The next night, while he was sewing up Junius’s letter in 
his doublet, he took courage and spoke. “ What’s wrong with 
me ? Don’t I hate the pope and all his ways like poison 
cried Karl, leaning on his elbow in the truckle bed. “ Hadn’t 
I a battle with Madam Philippa this very evening over her 
papist mass ? I tell you there’s no better Lutheran in all 
the Low Countries than I am. An’ I could, I’d drive every 
shaven crown and cowl at sword’s point over the big dyke 
at Cappel.” 

Hans did not laugh at this curious exemplification of the 
speaker’s Christianity. “ Karl, it is love, and not hate, which 
the Testament sets before us to be the Christian token, as 
thou very well knowest. I never may see thee again ; and 
I care for thee too dear, after all thy goodness to me, that 
I would not brave thine anger by affirming that he has little 
faith in God who does not pray to Him.” 

The sailor turned away ; he could not answer roughly the 
earnest remonstrance which conscience confirmed ; and the 
simple, honest nature of the young printer had made itself 
respected by him even during their short intercourse. In the 
grey of the morning, when they parted near Scheldt side, he 
whispered, “ The wild sea life is corrupting, comrade ; but I’ll 
try to begin to pray again.” 

Rapidly at first the clumsy Dutch hoy ran down the broad 
brown river with tide and current, past the magnificent lines 
of quays and jutting moles, which engrossed most of the com- 
merce of the earth, among the thousand sail of merchantmen 
Yhich lay alongside. For then was Scheldt what Thames 


From the Nether 4 and to the Hollow-land, 97 

is now : five hundred ships made daily entry and exit, five 
thousand merchants regulated its trade from the famous Bourse ; 
and Antwerp was a world’s capital, like London. But with the 
Bible passed away the ascendency from the Flemish to the 
English city. Antwerp had burned William Tyndale, — 
England took his life-work to its heart of hearts. 

Soon arose the July sun, and shot golden arrows through 
the marvellous fretwork of the marvellous cathedral tower, 
and roused the beautiful city into the life of another day. 
For hours was that proud spire visible, even after the little 
craft had got among the river-dykes, which cut off all view 
except of an occasional house-top, or church-steeple, or wind- 
mills set on the bank as the highest point, to catch the air. 

“ ’Twere like you have some one dearer than common in 
yon city, or your gaze would not rove so far afield,” said a 
voice at Hans’s elbow. It was the steersman just relieved ; 
and Hans did not like that the narrow spying face should 
have watched him. 

“ Surely ; the fair Onse Vrouw (Notre Dame) herself,” was 
the reply, as he pointed to Antwerp tower. 

“ A stranger’s answer, messmate. Hast seen her so seldom, 
then ?” 

“May not a man admire an excellent and glorious work 
that he sees often.?” 

It was a shadow of suspicion, which made our fugitive more 
cautious in the acting of his part as a hired hand. Yet for 
his life he could not pay obeisance to the little painted image 
of the Virgin, with a dim oil-lamp guttering opposite it, in the 
fore part of the vessel. His only resource was to avoid the 
spot as much as possible. 

Scheldt ere long broadened into an arm of the sea, bounded 
by undulating sandy dunes, nature’s barriers, or by massive 
mounds faced with clay or stone, the contrivance of maa 

H 


Within Sea Walls. 


98 

The hoy did not go outside the marshy islands, to be tossed 
like a cork in German Ocean, but, being an unambitious bark, 
sailed on a tortuous course through sundry safe canals towards 
the Meuse. Often Hans had to get out and tug with the rest 
of her crew, warping her along with ropes, when the wind 
dropped. Then at one side he could look down upon a 
country of fertile fields, dotted with cottages, an expanse of 
the richest verdure, where sleek kine pastured, and husband- 
men dug ; while on the other hand he saw the sluggish water 
higher sometimes than their heads, bearing up barge and sail. 

Hans was in Rotterdam streets next morning, feeling that 
he had made a second escape from the narrow spying face ; 
but being compelled to wait while one of the frequent and 
ponderous drawbridges was being lowered across a canal, he 
was startled by a hand on his shoulder. 

*‘No stranger,” said the other; “a friend, if you make it 
worth while.” 

“ I don’t understand you.” 

The fellow whispered, and it sounded in the poor lad’s ear 
like a serpent’s hissing ; “ Thou art of the spawn of Luther, 
and Rotterdam is a most Catholic city.” 

“ Who said such a thing .?” — and the eyes of Hans quailed 
no more. 

“ Who said it } He who would not unbonnet to Our Lady’s 
image, even before his graceless meals, nor sing the Ave-song 
when we pulled on the dyke-track, nor swear a round oath, 
nor cast dice with us, nor laugh at a jolly story, — ah ! I know 
your canting chaps of * the religion ’ well, and have seen more 
than one of you wearing a belt of fagots.”^ 

^ This sailor’s opinion of the conduct of the Reformed was very general among 
their adversaries. In a letter written by the Antwerp Synod4(i563) to the King of 
Spain, it is, said — We thank God that our enemies themselves are compelled to 
bear witness to our piety and patience: so that it is a common saying— ‘He 


From the Nether-land to the Hollow-land. 99 

'‘God forgive thee!” prayed Hans. “And now you want 
a price for not sending me to the same fiery fate ^ ” 

“ Exactly so. A simple matter of trade between us two.” 

Creaking slowly and heavily, the cumbrous timbers of the 
drawbridge descended. Hans’ eye was watched by his per- 
secutor. “No, my friend, never will you cross that bridge 
till you buy what I have to sell. Come, and keep the toll 
and the fellow laughed gratingly. “Five broad pieces for 
crossing !” 

“ And I have but two on earth. I’ll back to the boat, and 
tell of thy robber conduct.” 

“’Twill be none the better for thee, poor youth,” said the 
other, ironically, keeping close alongside him. “ Skipper has 
nought more to do with Van Myk the rover, who only shipped 
for a passage, like thyself. Come, thou’rt lucky to be able 
to buy me off. Wouldn’t sell my conscience, only I’m empty 
of coins at present. Hand over the two broad pieces, and we 
are quits.” 


swears not, he must be a Protestant ; he is neither an ill-liver nor a drunkard : 
he is of the new sect.’ Yet, notwithstanding so honourable a testimony, no kind 
of torments are forgotten in the punishing of us.” 

And in Brandt’s Martyrology there occurs an affecting instance in point: 
•* John Herewin of Houtkerk in West Flanders, who had almost till that time led 
an irregular life, having got some knowledge of the doctrines of the Reformation 
at London, was apprehended and imprisoned at Hondschoten. As they were 
leading him to execution, he said — ‘Thus are the servants of Jesus Christ rewarded 
by a miserable world. Formerly, when I drank and gamed night and day, and 
spent my life in all sorts of sin, then was I in no danger of these bands,’ lifting up 
his fettered hands as high as he could. ‘ The moment I entered on a sober and 
godly life, the world became mine enemy; it persecutes me, it hurries me to 
execution. But the servant is not greater than his Lord!’ As he went along, 
he sang the icx)th Psalm : some of the standers-by sang with him — some softly, 
• others aloud, and above four hundred persons comforted and encouraged him ! 
one leading him by the hand to the stake where he was to be strangled and burnt, 
strengthening him with godly discourse till he expired. This happened 4th 
November 1560.” 


100 


Within Sea Walls. 


It came to that at last, and Hans plunged away among the 
streets, to get as far as he could from his tormentor. Burgher 
Franck had given him the money; and now, except a few 
copper coins, he was penniless. Certainly he could not hire 
passage in a boat to Delft and Leyden, which was the plan 
indicated for him; he must walk thither; and, in his new 
distrust of all men, he was very chary of asking his way. 
Sore and sick at heart he felt, until he saw a little child come 
crying along the street, having hurt itself : but presently a 
working-man in leathern jerkin walking up behind, returning 
to his breakfast, called, reached out his hand, to which the 
child sprang, and there were no more tears. It told its 
troubles, already half forgotten in the father’s smile, and was 
completely pacified in his strength and love. 

“ And I, O Father in heaven, have forgotten to look to 
Thee, and take hold of Thy strength ! ” 

■Not his own blundering had made him destitute now, 
but the feeling that he could not give the honour of his God 
to a graven image ; and the sweetness of losing something for 
Christ’s sake entered his soul. 

He found himself near the Groot Markt, a wide bridge 
over a canal, where now stands the bronze statue of Erasmus ; 
and among the numerous craft at rest or gliding about was 
one barge with “ Leiden ” in white letters on its round stern. 
He followed it into other canals, and thence past the boom 
and the Watergate. His heart leaped to see again a wide flat 
horizon, free as air. 

Delft was only eight miles distant. Through the seventeen 
Netherland provinces cities lay as close as did villages in 
other countries. It was the crowding of commercial prosperity. 

That afternoon, among the many market-wagons issuing 
from Delft gates, was one containing a solitary driver, which 
took the line of the straight dyke to Leyden. Tradition said 


From the NetJier-land to the Hollow-land. lot 

this canal was originally a Roman ditch dug between the 
Rhine and Meuse, to help in bridling the irrepressible Belgicae. 
No finer water-way drained the Hollow-Land ; but atop the 
bank was very narrow for the passage of two vehicles or 
the turning of one, consequently the wagon aforesaid (and 
every other) was furnished with a curiously short pole between 
its horses, which the driver guided with^his foot as carefully 
as did his hand the bridle. Seeing Hans a long way ahead, 
and having always a kind heart for a wayfarer, he stopped 
when the wagon neared him. “Wouldst have a seat for a 
mile or two ?” 

Hans thankfully accepted the offer. This was no narrow 
spying face, but the bright straightforward eye of a true man. 
Where had he seen it before The dark pointed beard, the 
•regular intelligent features, seemed almost familiar. But 
when the driver got out to settle some tackling on the off 
horse, and the halting on one foot became apparent, a whole 
scene flashed before the eyes of the young printer. Under a 
pollard willow-tree was a splendid personage in a velvet coat, 
with a brilliant ensign of the Fleece sparkling on his breast ; 
a little lame man in front, carrying books, and talking 
earnestly. Hans, in his admiration for the former, had 
watched the pair closely that day in the Ghent field-meeting. 

Just the same voice spoke now, as he resumed his seat, “A 
fine hay-harvest has been sent us this season from the good 
Lord. I never saw the polders richer or heavier.” 

“ Better than the water-meadows outside Ghent ?” 

His tone caused Kasper Arnoldzoon to turn and gaze 
steadily at him. “The best harvest I ever saw outside 
Ghent,” he replied, slowly, “was when I went there with a 
monk Herman.” 

They grasped hands. “ Brothers we are,” said Arnoldzoon, 
responsive to the flash of gladness in the youth's face. 


102 


Within Sea Walls. 


“Ah! and I thought I had left all the Reformed behind me, 
and was in nought but enemy’s land till I could reach Leyden,” 
said the young printer. 

“ And to whom in Leyden, my youth 

“ Is there a sign called the Golden Key ?” asked Hans, with 
a remnant of needless caution. 

“Thou’rt of smith’s craft, then ?’* 

“No ; a printer I would be, when I served a space longer.” 

“Ah! ’Tw^ere some knowing person guided thee. The 
locksmith and the printer is my brother Giles Arnoldzoon. 
Now tell me thy history.” And having heard it, the wagoner 
raised his felt hat, and thanked God ; as indeed he did for 
most things ; his soul was a chamber of perpetual praise. 

“ But I remember not seeing thee at that great preaching.” 

He was coming from others now, held beyond the Hague, 
and even in the town itself. “ I brought my wares thither,” 
and he pointed with the whip to some casks behind him. 
“ They went out full of good seed, but come home empty ; 
and I look for a certainty of fruit, because God’s Word liveth 
and endureth for ever.” 

And again : “ Our Holland will come out stanch for the 
gospel yet. Strange — where priests have committed so many 
cruel murders, that men thought the truth was verily stifled 
and crushed beyond recovery — the sufferings of the martyrs 
have not one whit terrified our people. And thou art son of 
a martyr also, my youth,” he added, for Hans had told him of 
his parentage. 

Warm-hearted Arnoldzoon grasped again his hand. “ Canst 
tread in no worthier steps than his who loved his Saviour 
better than his life,” he said ; “ and I believe in the brothers 
and sisters and mothers granted even in this world, as well as 
the persecutions; be sure thou wilt want no friendship thy 
God seeth good.” 


ON THE WAV TO 











From the Nether-land to the Hollow-land, 105 

Behind willow-tufted banks the sun went down, and yet 
Leyden spires were in the distance. “ The gates will be shut 
ere we could reach them,” said Arnoldzoon ; “ but I counted 
on resting the night at a friend’s, by here. Thou wilt be 
made welcome too, being, above all, of such faithful ancestry 
and they turned towards a windmill wielding its great arms 
slowly. Not grinding corn, or crushing oil, was its special 
office, but pumping water to drain the soil. 

“ Mayhap, being only native of the Nether-land, you have 
never seen a polder farm in the Hollow- Land } ” 

And he told the new-comer how all this province of Holland 
was in a manner scooped from the sea ; won from sand and 
salt marsh by hard labour of the hardiest men, who had 
erected an enormous dyke outside, against which “ broad 
ocean leaned” itself, and wrought no harm by the mighty 
pressure. Also of the belt of dunes on other parts of the 
coast, where the Almighty Framer of land and sea had made 
of sand-hills and bulrushes a self-repairing barrier, as powerful 
as the human contrivance of stones and clay. 

Portions of the land inside the dykes, being lower than the 
intersecting canals, could not drain into them, and so remained 
ponds or quagmires, until the water was pumped away. After 
this process the soil gradually developed into a richness sur- 
passing all the rest. The deepest pastures, the most blooming 
orchards, the yellowest harvests, were on those " polder ” farms, 
sunk far beneath the level of the sea. 

Darkening twilight, and rising mists from the watercourses, 
made our travellers steer cautiously along the narrow track 
to the house. Dogs barked violently, red lights appeared 
through a knot of trees; and presently they saw the open 
door, and a man with lantern standing at it. Evidently 
Arnoldzoon was expected. “ One of us,” was the brief 
introduction of Hans ; it was enough. 


io6 


Within Sea Walls. 


What a bright clean kitchen! Every thing was polished 
and shining with innumerable eyes, that could be polished 
and could shine. The brick floor, ruddy in itself, was ruddier 
from the blaze of a mass of hard peats heaped behind irons 
on the hearth. A young girl was sitting at her wheel in a 
corner in full light ; an old woman was knitting, the housewife 
bustling about supper. A bundle of osiers and a half-finished 
basket lay on the ground where the farmer’s son had been at 
work, before he went outside to help at housing the horses. 
Snowy linen was laid already on the table, and spotless 
trenchers ; an immense yellow cheese reared itself like a 
fortress, flanked by towers of brown loaf and huge sausages, 
others of which simmered with savoury hiss beside the fire. 

Altogether a look of comfort and plerity subsisted in the 
household, suiting well what an Italian visitor remarks : — 
“The people rejoiced in such abundance of all things, that 
there was no man, however humble, who did not seem rich 
for his station.” 

“ And how did our brethren prosper at the Hague the 
farmer asked. 

“ I’ll tell thee. Twenty wagons full of Delft citizens came 
over on the appointed day, to hear Master Peter Gabriel 
preach. And where did they alight, and choose the spot of 
their meeting, but just before the house of the president of 
the council, because that some time agone he threatened the 
utmost severity of the Placards on any of ‘ the religion’ that 
ventured themselves near him I True enough now he saw 
that they were not daunted ; for the wagons were formed into 
a ring, and the preacher in their midst ; and the president 
heard hymns and Reformed discourse for the first time in 
his life, belike.” 

“ Surely they were armed who did this ? ” asked the young 
farmer, with a sparkle in his eyes. 


From the Nether-land to the Hollow-land, 107 

“ Ay, every one ; it had too much the air of vain boasting 
for me. Spiritual worship thrives poorly under carnal ex- 
citement.” 

“ Yet it was a protest against tyranny,” said Farmer Walther. 
“ And will Master Gabriel preacii again to us Leydeners } ” 

“ Certain traders of Utrecht have taken him to their city, 
at the present. They have had Jan Arentzoon of late, 
preaching near the castle ; whence a musket was fired, which 
wounded one young woman of the congregation ; but it did 
not disperse them, nor deter a good lady in the town from 
inviting the minister to her house.” 

Says the old chronicler : — But her harbouring him cost 
her afterwards both estate and life ! ” She was the Vrouw 
van Diemen, beheaded by Alva. 

“Your wares went fast enough, I warrant.?” 

“Not a leaf left in the casks. That Spanish device is 
excellent ; no guard at the gates inquired respecting what 
they thought was my Flemish ale. Thus they get prohibited 
books into Spain, friend Hans.” 

The wagon, heaped with farm and garden produce for 
Leyden market, with lettuces, beans, onions, cabbages, endive, 
beetroot, early pears, and driven now by young Walther, 
passed the gates next morning early. All quays, all canals, 
seemed this symmetrical city of the “ Water- Land its 
handsome houses and bridges of cut stone (expensive material, 
since entire Holland scarce can furnish a pebble) rose, amid 
avenues of willows, poplars, linden trees. “And that is 
Rhine!” exclaimed Hans, who had expected a nobler tide 
than the deep slow stream, bound within artificial banks and 
quays. 

“ You have been looking at Rhine-water for many a mile, 
spilt into five hundred channels,” was Arnoldzoon’s reply. 

♦ ♦ * * * 


io8 


Within Sea Walls* 


“ The Golden Key ** was one of a succession of signs, in a 
busy street along a canal side ; for most shops had a trading 
emblem, relic of the preceding age which could not read, 
and required to be informed through pictures. Here Giles 
Arnoldzoon carried on the handicraft of a locksmith and 
worker in iron. A dried-looking bald man, much older than 
his brother, and living alone, except at such intervals as 
Kasper was at home. 

“ My brother, welcome,” was his staid and solemn greeting, 
as he looked up from the lock he was filing and cleaning 
carefully, examining it through spectacles. 

“ I have brought you a helper,” quoth Kasper. 

“ A helper ? ” and he glanced up again sharply I want 
none.” 

“ But he is recommended to you by the pastor of Antwerp 
— Franciscus Junius.” 

“ That is another matter. Let him sit down. ‘ What thy 
hand findeth to do, do it with might;* and I must end with 
this lock ere other business.” 

Kasper Arnoldzoon went away about his own affairs ; and 
Hans was left sitting for a long time in the back part of the 
dingy shop, where was a small brick forge and a fire. The 
severe, furrowed face bending over the lock seemed to have 
quite forgotten him. And where was the printing office } He 
heard no trundling or clicking of a press at work ; nothing 
but the tiny sounds of the workman’s file occasionally. One 
or two customers came and went with brief words. An hour 
before noon, the master of the shop having looked at a dial 
in his window, shut and barred the door. 

“ Bring out what food is in that cupboard,” and he pointed 
to a corner,' They ate and drank, and Hans having previously 
ripped the lining of his doublet, gave him the letter from 
Antwerp. 


Froin the Nether- land to the Hollow-land, 109 

And you have run some risk already for the truth’s sake ?” 
— this to Hans. Is it in thy heart, young man?” 

Hans felt chilled, more by the manner than the matter 
of the question. “ I hope so, good sir.” 

“ Call me not * sir.’ Respect among men is a snare. There 
are no ranks, or should be none, among us of ‘ the religion.’ 
I am simply Giles Arnoldzoon, the locksmith. You can 
handle a composing-stick .? — then follow me.” 

The press was in a cellar under the house, whither it must 
have been carried piecemeal. A rude machine, compared 
with those in the Ghent printing office : and the fount of type 
so short that only a few pages could be set up at a time. 

“ Our work is grievously curtailed now,” said the locksmith, 
with a sort of resentful sigh. “We can only print tracts, 
handbills, and the like : javelins and arrows for the war, when 
we would fain forge the caliver and arquebus. Here is the 
paper from Master Calvin’s writing, which I began to set up 
last night.” 

Night and day were much alike in this cavern. Hans went 
to work by a rushlight. It was very dreary and lonely. The 
traffic overhead was deadened to a rumbling, and he fancied 
he could hear in any pauses the lapping of water a few feet 
away. 

Among the sentences selected from Calvin’s work, “to 
encourage our brethren against the bloody hand of the per- 
secutor,” was the following ; 

“ Better be deprived of everything, and possess Christ. It 
the ship is in danger, the sailors throw everything overboard, 
that they may reach the port in safety. Do likewise. Riches, 
honours, rank, outward respect, all should be sacrificed to 
possess Christ. He is our only blessedness !” 

That set Hans thinking. What did he know of such 
blessedness ? He investigated his own soul. 


no 


Within Sm Walls, 


“At work already?” said the cheerful voice of Kasper 
Arnoldzoon. The compositor felt as if daylight and fresh 
air had entered with him. “No pleasant workshop, my youth : 
but necessity is stern. Giles, my brother, owned a printer’s 
office at Rotterdam, but his main work was discovered by a 
spy, and our books made into a blazing pile in the Groot 
Markt : wherein probably ourselves likewise would have been 
burnt, but for friends conveying us away.” 

While the two worked off some copies of the pages in type, 
Arnoldzoon went on to say how that certain journeymen 
printers in the town, attached to the Reformation cause, helped 
his brother in this secret work. “ So he will find it nowise 
difficult to procure employment for a friend. There is no 
nobler spirit than my brother Giles,” added Kasper, as if 
knowing how unfavourably the stern manner and mien of the 
locksmith had impressed the young stranger. “Always 
ready to shed his blood for the religion; which, indeed, he 
doubts not will be his end.” 




CHAPTER XIV. 

^ow the f recession of the Virgin tooh place in 
Antwerp, 

:na Franck lay on her couch as usual, one 
August afternoon, surrounded by every appliance 
of comfort, and even luxury, that her father’s 
love could bestow. Yet a shadow was upon the 
usually clear brow, and the sensitive lips were 
half parted with an expression of pain. From 
her listless fingers hung a costly plaything, a 
nutmeg set with silver, and pointed with a pearl ; 
it was attached to her girdle, where ladies often 
wore a pomander or scent ball. Near her a 
small table was spread with writing materials, 
considerably more cumbrous than the delicate 
apparatus of a modern boudoir : presently she 
drew them towards her, and opened a manu- 
script volume about half filled already : a sort 
of intermittent journal. 

“ Little book of mine, why do I tell you what 
troubles me when you say nothing in return ? Shall I give 
, you words, dumb little book ? Sister Margaret says I ought 
to transcribe some worthy author, instead of wasting time 
over my own silly thinkings. Yes, I will write at the head 



TI2 


Within Sea Walls, 


of every leaf a fair verse of Holy Scripture, according as I 
remember. To-day I think of — ‘ Fear not, little flock ; for 
it is the pleasure of your Father to give you the kingdom.' 
My heart is warmed when I call the great God my Father. 
When I look at my other one, and see his kind eyes upon 
me, and know he is ready to give me all things that I want, 
and that I need not be afraid while his strong arm takes care 
of me, I see, in a dim way, that it is all a parable of God. 
But I can trust in God so much better for myself than for him. 

“ Aunt Philippa foretels such dreadful things. Yesterday 
was the great procession of the Ommegang, celebrating the 
Assumption of Our Lady ; though I can find in no part of the 
Testament an account of her being taken to heaven without 
dying. Aunt Philippa and Sister Margaret had quite a battle 
about the procession. Aunt - Philippa insisted that the front 
of our house should be decorated as usual, hung with showy 
carpets and tapestries, to do honour to the day. But just 
when we could hear the trumpets and drums coming towards 
our street, Margaret walked quickly into our saloon, and shut 
close the shutters. ‘You can come into a back room, Nina, 
where we need neither see nor hear the idolatry,’ she said. 
But Aunt Philippa stood up, and opened the window nearest 
me. ‘ Nina will remain where she is,’ were her words, in 
a suppressed tone, but her face was pale with anger. 
Margaret stood guard to prevent the other window being 
opened ; and never did I think the procession so long in 
passing. ‘ Come hither, my child,’ said Aunt Philippa, wiih 
a gentleness that made her so like my own mother, that I 
could do nothing else but lean on her arm and my crutch to the 
window, and look out, though my eyes were blinded with 
tears. Notwithstanding all the popular oppositions to which 
we have been hearing, the procession seemed as grand as 
ever. The twenty-six guilds of trade were there, marching 


THE PROCESSION OF THE VIRGIN 












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The Procession of the Virgin, 1 1 5 

in their splendid dresses, carrying standards; and all the 
rhetoric societies (which my father says have so much helped 
our Reformed cause by their debatings and freedom of speech), 
and all the religious orders, of course ; and the trained bands 
of the city, and the burgher militia, and magistrates, in furred 
robes and chains of office. And loud music was playing from 
divers instruments. But not so loud as quite to drown *the 
voices of the crowd : and some we heard plain enough, reviling 
the image, and calling her an idol. Oh, strange ! reviling Our 
Lady of Antwerp ! Pale as Aunt Philippa was before, she 
became death-like, and even pushed me aside, as she opened 
the casement to hear. 

‘‘ ‘ Mayken, Mayken ! Little Mary ! We are tired of thee ! 
Antwerp will have none of thee — ’tis thy last procession. 
Mayken, thy hour is coming!’ 

“ * I marvel that the troops turn not on that rabble rout 
with their swords,’ said Aunt Philippa. 

“ ‘ Perhaps the troops happen unfortunately to think with 
them,’ observed Margaret, with a triumphant smile. And 
then very bitter v/ords passed, words which I shall try to 
forget, because each was out of temper, and only thought 
of wounding the other : and Margaret, who professes to love 
and serve our gentle Saviour, showed nothing of His spirit. 
And they left me — oh, with such an aching in my head ! 

“ Some time after, my dear father came in from the Ex- 
change, where daily he transacts his business. Not that I 
think he is at all so ardent or so absorbed about it, as before 
he came to know ‘ the new religion.’ He looked weary and 
worn, and rested his head upon his hand in a tired fashion not 
usual with him who is so energetic. I would have asked did 
any of his ships miscarry, or what bad news was abroad ; 
but he was not above two or three minutes beside me when 
Aunt Philippa entered,. the anger not all extinct in her face. 


ii6 


Within Sea Walls, 


“ ‘ I foresee,’ she said, ‘ that the extravagant fanaticism of 
your eldest daughter will yet bring you to the stake, Floris. 
Here am I, trying to keep up the appearance of orthodoxy 
in your household — ! and she went on to tell him what had 
happened. 

“ ‘ Margaret was very wrong to oppose you in that violent 
wdy,’ he said ; * but as to her calling the image an idol — ’ he 
smiled a little with his own kind smile, and shook his head. 

“ ‘ The world is come to a pretty pass, when forward and 
ignorant girls dare set themselves up to be judges of the 
worship which has suited older and wiser people all their 
lives,’ said Aunt Philippa. 

“ * Only because they have never looked into the grounds 
of it, nor ever considered whether they ought ’ 

“ Don’t argue, brother. The spirit of insubordination and 
disrespect your daughter Margaret shows, would be enough 
to condemn her opinions in my eyes.’ 

“ ‘ It is not the spirit of the gospel,’ he said. ‘ But the child 
means well, except that her zeal is too headstrong. And I 
fear the image will have some trouble to protect herself, if the 
people carry out* their threatenings.’ 

“ ‘ Nonsense ! Our Lady of Antwerp ! impossible that 
harm should befal her. No, no, brother, it behoves us to 
look nearer home; I tremble for the precipice on which you 
stand.’ 

“ ‘ I had rather not discuss that now,’ said he ; and I feel 
sure one reason was the presence of me, his little Nina, as he 
calls me, though I may, indeed, be counted grown up in years, 
being to the full seventeen. He is so fearful lest I should be 
frightened, this good father ! 

“ ‘ Well, I know,’ he said, ‘ to whose care I have given 
myself ; and He is able to keep me and mine. But I assure 
you,’ he added, in another tone, ' the canons of the cathedral 


The Procession of the Virgin. 117 

do not despise the danger as you do : they have not ventured 
to expose the image in her usual place near the great altar, 
but have locked her into a side-chapel, where she has an iron 
screen for protection.* 

“ ‘ I would have left her in the customary place,’ said Aunt 
Philippa, loftily. ‘ It was great want of faith. Now, if ever, 
we might look for a miracle.’ 

“ Nevertheless, the news appeared to perturb her, for she 
was struck quite silent, and left the room shortly afterwards. 
‘ Poor Philippa ! the Church has no more devoted ally in 
Antwerp,’ said my father. * When she is converted by the 
grace of God, she will make a grand Christian.’ 

“‘You speak confidently of her conversion, dear father.’ 

“ ‘ As one ought who has prayed earnestly for a soul, and 
believes that God is true,’ was his reply. ‘ But it is by deeds, 
not words, your Aunt Philippa will be influenced. I wish 
Margaret had less fire in her zeal : I must speak to the child.’ 

“I asked him » if he had seen the procession.? Yes, and 
a handful of mud thrown by some person opposite the 
Exchange, had stuck to the jewelled petticoats of the image, 
provoking shouts of derision. 

“ And the English merchants, how they smile ! ‘ We have 

done with all that mummery in our country,’ say they. ‘ Our 
Lady of Walsingham was nigh as great as yours of Antwerp, 
but we dethroned her : and have thriven better ever since.’ 

“ ‘ My little Nina ! these earthly confusions and mistakes 
drive one towards the pure air of heaven ! Let us think of 
our inheritance, our country bought for us by the blood of 
Christ — the city where shall enter nothing that defileth or 
maketh a lie — oh, Nina, it is no dream, no fable — it is all 
real, and never will fade away.’ 

“Only lately does my dear father speak such words. 
Formerly his whole soul seemed to be centred in gathering 


ii8 


Within Sea Walls, 


riches for us his children, and making a place for himself as 
a foremost citizen. Now since Master Junius preached that 
great sermon, his thoughts and desires seem to have got 
quite another turn ; as if he had discovered a new and a 
grander country, with greater wealth in it, as did the mariner 
Columbus, and was going there after a short space. Is not 
this indeed the truth 

“ And when he saw Margaret, what was his reproof to her ? 
‘Child, you have behaved yourself unseemly towards the 
sister of your mother. I would have you remember what is 
written, “ Walk in wisdom toward them that are without,” and 
again : “ Do all things without disputings.” * 

“He has become very gentle of late. 

“After to-day’s meal at noon. Aunt Philippa rose up, and 
expressed her resolution of visiting the cathedral, in spite of 
the reports of disturbance which continued to reach us through 
the servants. ‘ I have for twenty-five years presented myself 
on this day at Our Lady’s shrine, and shall I shrink back 
because of a little danger — if such exist, which I cannot credit ?’ 

“ My father said — ‘ I think it no place for a tender lady.’ 

“ ‘ All who venerate the Catholic faith, and the institutions 
of our city, and our holy worship, ought to be there,’ was her 
reply. * Very brief space would the rioters linger before such 
a demonstration. Ursel shall come with me, and one of the 
serving-men and she walked towards the door. 

“ ‘ Nay, since thou art so determined, I will be of thy escort 
likewise. Sister Philippa;’ in answer to which she gave but 
a grave, deep curtsey, in her stately way ; she must have been 
very graceful when young. 

“So, they have gone to the cathedral; and I lie here in 
fear. Why should I fear.? If I had true trust in our God, 
I would pray to Him with such reliance that I would be as 
the angels in heaven, joyful always.” 



CHAPTER XV. 

iSuftCfirning the War against ^ratten Images. 

HE ragged crowd gathered in front of that beau- 
tiful cathedral, looked so puny in comparison 
with the vast, calm bulk of building, rising 
towards the very clouds, that Madam Philippa 
was greatly reassured at first sight. “ What is 
the thing you said, Ursel — that Notre Dame 
d’ Anvers need fear insult ?” said the lady, 
ceasing her stately walk, to turn sharp on her 
attendant. “ It is a mistake. It could never be.” 

Ursel, not pleased, murmured something 
about seeing for oneself : as for her, she had 
been to the market in the morning, and had 
heard what she had heard. 

They had not passed much within the chief 
entrance ere they found that insult had already 
begun. The sabbath stillness of those grand 
five-fold aisles was broken by the rude voices and roystering 
of some scores of idlers who wandered about, ridiculing the 
images, trampling the tombs, but as yet attempting no 
damage. Once or twice the cry was raised : 

“Vivent les Gueux I” Hoarse and strange it sounded, 



120 Within Sea Walls. 

where no voices but those of choristers were wont to stir the 
banners. 

“My friend,” remonstrated burgher P'ranck, with a man 
who yelled it in their very ears — “ that is no cry for this 
place. They profess here to worship God.’’ He could not 
shake off the old sacredness. 

“What!” exclaimed the man, rudely — “thou popish per- 
secutor — ah, I know thee,” as he looked close in the burgher’s 
countenance by the dim light. “One of ‘the religion,’ as 
reported — Master Franck, the merchant,” he added, in a 
more respectful manner, to those nearest. “ Sir, we will 
brook no interference with our rights in our own cathedral : 
and I say, that if justice were done, not a stone would be left 
on another in this idolatrous building!” 

“And I say,” rejoined Franck, firmly, “that the burgrave 
and magistrates of Antwerp will never permit the choicest 
monument of their city to be injured : it is at your peril that 
you use such language.” 

The fellow was cowed, and slunk off, muttering. Madam 
Philippa turned* a kindlier look on her Protestant brother- 
in-law than she had done for many a day. 

“ I will but say a prayer before the shrine, and then depart.” 

Her undaunted spirit was shown by kneeling down in the 
very face of the rabble, to perform her devotions opposite the 
iron railing in the choir. She would pay honour, though 
all the world contemned. Ursel followed her example. 
Certainly it was not easy to give composed attention to what 
they were about, especially as various satirical remarks were 
made on “the old lady and her duenna,” and rude jests 
circulated, with the noisy laughter, so empty, and so easy to 
raise. But Ursel scorned to take notice of these; until one 
urchin, grinning through the iron bars, demanded if “ little 
Mary was afraid, that she had gone so early to her nest ?” 


Co7tcerning the War against Graven Images, 12 1 

Ursel scrambled to her feet with wrathful agility, seized 
him by his hair, and boxed his ears soundly. “ I’ll teach thee 
to make a mock of our blessed Lady ! ” 

Of course he roared twice as loud as he need have done, 
attracting allies from all quarters ; and such a commotion 
ensued, that the burgher was glad to draw away his females 
by a postern door, into the neighbouring cloister. And the 
last glimpse Madam Philippa had of the great aisle, she beheld 
one of the mob in the pulpit, mouthing and ranting, and 
thumping a book, in imitation of a friar’s sermon, to a 
gaping and grinning audience below. 

“ I’ll to the Stadt House, and represent the state of things, 
as soon as you are safe at home, Philippa. The magistrates 
cannot know fully what is going on. They should send a 
guard of the militia.” 

“ But where are the cathedral officers, or even the clergy ? 
They alone could drive off that contemptible canaille with 
ignominy!” said Madam Philippa, every nerve strung to 
resistance. She would almost have liked to bear part in the 
impending strife ; certainly she would have wished to witness 
it : for great was her triumph when Franck; returning home 
some hours later, told how the rabble had been expelled 
by the doorkeepers and a few respectable citizens, after a 
scuffle among themselves for possession of the pulpit. 

“Now, if they keep 'the great church shut for a few days, 
the storm from the south may blow over.” 

“What storm ?” asked Madam Philippa. 

“Why, the populace have been doing it elsewhere,” said 
Franck ; “ breaking down the images and ornaments of the 
churches; at St. Omer, Ypres, Menin, and along the line of the 
Lys. It is reported even from Valenciennes and Tournay.”^ 

1 A premature rumour i Toumay Cathedral was not cleared by the iconoclasts 
till 22nd August. 


122 


Within Sea Walls. 


“And the Catholics of Hainault, of Flanders, permitted 
♦his ?” she exclaimed, her eyes flashing. 

“ I hope it will be a warning to the magistrates here, if they 
wish to save our city churches from sack ; such examples are 
infectious among ignorant people.” 

“ Father, you speak almost as if you sympathized with the 
idolaters! Now I think it were all well done!” exclaimed 
Margaret, in that contentious voice which always made little 
Nina’s heart beat double. 

“ Peace, my daughter. The cause of Christ can never be 
served by lawless violence. While protesting with all my 
heart against the worship of graven images, for our God is a 
jealous God ” 

“Nay, brother,” put in Madam Philippa, whose only notice 
of Margaret’s speech had been a supercilious glance — “but 
you surely ought to know that we do not accord the same 
adoration ” 

“ I am a plain man,” he said ; “ I am not conscious of being 
able in my spirit to separate between sorts of worship. The 
Word of God is enough for me — ‘ Thou shalt not make to 
thyself any graven image, and thou shalt not bow down to ’ 
them.’ ” 

So the matter ended for that day. But burgher Franck’s 
exertions to save the great cathedral were remembered in his 
favour at an after day. 

On the day following, the magistrates of Antwerp displayed 
all the irresolution of divided counsels. No guard was set on 
the cathedral, and in consequence it was early next morning 
again filled with a tumultuous crowd. The superb organ, the 
finest in the Netherlands, pealed forth its last music to the 
tremulous Latin lispings of priests in the matins service. 
Far other sounds rang through the aisles all day ; shouts and 
party cries, and occasionally a psalm of Clement Mardt 


Concerning the War against Graven Images. 123 

roared from a thousand throats. A deputation from the 
magistrates besought the rioters to withdraw ; the more 
peaceably disposed went, the violent remained. These burst 
forth, as by a preconcerted signal, into that rude version of 
the second commandment: — 

“Tailler ne te feras imaige 

De quelque chose que ce soit, 

Sy honneur luy fais, ou hommaige * 

Bon Dieu jalousie en revolt.” 

Scarce had the strain ceased, ere the iron screen of the 
choir was broken through, the magnificent idol dashed to the 
pavement, and her jewelled attire torn in fragments. The 
magistrates fled. Like magic appeared all manner of imple- 
ments of destruction — axes, crowbars, hammers. “ Every 
statue was hurled from its niche, every picture torn from the 
wall, every painted window shivered to atoms, every ancient 
monument shattered, every sculptured decoration, however 
inaccessible in appearance, dashed to the ground.” Before 
midnight the adornments which four centuries had matured 
were destroyed : Antwerp Cathedral was but an empty shell. 

The act was lawless : but we see in it a species of wild 
justice. The rulers of soul and body in the Netherlands had 
shown no consideration for God’s own image in the human 
form, but had treated it with every imaginable cruelty ; and 
as the eloquent historian says : — “ Those statues, associated as 
they were with the remorseless persecution which had so long 
desolated the provinces, had ceased to be images. They had 
grown human and hateful, so that the people arose and devoted 
them to indiscriminate massacre.” A massacre, be it always 
remembered, solely of unconscious wood and stone. 

What a night was that in Antwerp ! Catholic and Protestant 
alike cowered and kept within doors ; all believed that the 


124 


Within Sea Walls, 


richest city of the Netherlands was at the mercy of an 
infuriated mob; and each prepared for self-defence. The 
Reformed felt no* safer than their Catholic neighbours. Houses 
were universally' barricaded, and weapons got ready for use. 

At burgher Franck’s the long table in the dining-hall was 
laid out with them, and the servants assembled who could 
handle them in case of attack. One or two arquebuses and 
matchlocks, a couple of rapiers and halberts and broadswords, 
a pistol for the master himself (having the. cumbrous wheel- 
lock, which seemed devised to give an enemy warning), made 
up the armoury. The beaufets, lately so gay with silver plate 
and curious vessels, were empty and bare ; Madam Philippa 
had their contents conveyed to the cellars. She herself was 
the animating spirit of the little garrison. Sometimes, glowing 
with indignation at distant outcries and sounds of ravage, she 
would descend from the saloon where the women were gathered, 
and where her brother’s presence perhaps checked her zeal, 
and harangue the men on the sin of schism, and the fearful 
consequences of listening to the Reformed preachers. Nor was 
she wanting in predictions of terrible things to come, when 
his Catholic Majesty, her great hero, should take vengeance. 

Meanwhile, dear little Nina lay on her couch, with eyes closed 
for the most part, and her hand clasped often by her father ; 
but there was no great anxiety in her heart. Her prayer had 
procured for her the trustfulness of a child in Him who dis- 
poseth events. One verse from the prohibited Bible seemed 
to overrule all her mind — “ The Lord reigneth.” 

Near midnight a slight knocking was heard at the outer 
door. After due precaution it was opened, and a person 
muffled in a cloak presented himself. 

“ Father Adrian ! ” exclaimed the burgher. 

“ Ay, my son ; thou’lt give shelter to an old friend from this 
tempest ? ” 


Concerning the War against Graven Images, 125 

He had been confessor to Franck’s deceased wife ; an aged 
man, and feeble, yet he bore some weighty burden in his arms. 

“ The robbers have broken into our monastery, and are 
destroying all before them ; and truly I cared not so much for 
myself, seeing a man can die but once, and martyrdom is 
glorious.” 

It was natural the old priest should express these appre- 
hensions ; yet, as it turned out, during that week of lawless 
image-breaking hi the Low Countries, not a single life was 
sacrificed, not a drop of blood was spilt. 

Father Adrian’s great fear had been for the inestimable 
treasure he carried in a golden and jewelled case. It was not 
to be lightly exposed to view, but they had all seen it at the 
great festivals — a withered bone of a dead saint. “ From 
under the very eyes of the spoilers I rescued it,” said he, 
exultingly. 

“ Perhaps you would wish it stored with our silver cups and 
flagons, hidden away in the cellars asked Madam Philippa, 
who verily felt a little ashamed of the relic, in presence of the 
shrewd and intelligent Reformed family. 

“ I let it not out of my sight,’^ was the reply. “ I must be 
its custodian till happier times and worthier keeping. But 
ah ! woe’s me for what mine eyes have witnessed this night — 
we could see much through the grille near the high altar ; the 
commonest rabble drest in our beautiful and holy vestments ; 
copes and chasubles of priceless value round the necks of 
unhallowed youths and women ; all the sacred images hacked 
in pieces — methinks the very end of the world is come!” 

“Then shall there be a new heaven and a new earth,” 
whispered Nina to her father. 

Midnight had passed, when a distant cry — “ Long live the 
Beggars 1 ” broke upon their ears. It seemed to augment and 
roll nearer. “ The rioters are coming this way,” said Madam 


126 


Within Sea Walls. 


Philippa. The old priest crossed himself, and caught up his 
precious reliquary. A glare from numerous torches and 
cressets filled the street. Opposite . burgher Franck’s door 
they seemed to stop, and every ear was bent to listen to the 
surging murmur of voices. Crashing blows followed, and 
shouts; it was merely clearing away the image of St. Hip- 
polytus and its carved canopy from the corner of the street. 
After which the mob poured upon the nearest church, and 
broke open the doors. 

“ I don’t think they can have any object but to sack the 
churches,” said burgher Franck, with an air of relief. “They 
appear to respect private property.” 

“As if they could do worse than sacrilege!” said Madam 
Philippa, warmly. She and the old priest settled the matter 
very conclusively in their own opinion, until burgher Franck 
stopped his walk to and fro in the chamber. 

“ Father Adrian, you, as well as I, have seen the nerves 
and muscles of a living man quivering and shrinking in the 
fire ; think you that were no greater outrage and sacrilege 
on the handiwork of God Almighty, than the cutting to pieces 
of a wooden or stony image, which can neither feel nor know, 
but is the imperfect handiwork of men ?” 

“ Oh, as for me,” hesitated Father Adrian — “ don’t appeal 
to me — I am never for severe measures ; ” and the poor old 
man caressed his reliquary with his smooth white palms, and 
met nobody’s eyes. “I dare not disapprove of what the 
Church has considered necessary to her discipline in all ages, 
— the lopping away of unworthy members, — but I wish it 
could have been gentler done.” 

“ If Church and King be not wise in time, our country will 
be ruined,” said burgher Franck ; “and they will have a waste 
land and depopulated cities to rule over. To my own know- 
edge, as a merchant of Antwerp, many score shiploads of 


Concerning the War against Graven Images, 127 

our tradespeople and craftsmen have sailed down Scheldt, 
seeking rest in England, since the renewed proclamation of 
the Trent canons and the Inquisition last year ; and these 
not our worst men, mark you. Father Adrian, but able 
artizans and good livers, after the manner of the Reformed ; 
and I am much mistaken if they prove not health and wealth 
to any country that entertains them.” 

The burgher dropt his chin on his chest, and sat musing ; it 
was no new thought to him to take refuge in England ; but 
what did it involve ? 

The dawn of the summer morning came at last : and, like 
a nightmare, the great city shook off her terrors on seeing the 
sunshine. The citizens came gradually to realize that them- 
selves and their possessions were safe. Even the Church’s 
property was safe, in one sense; not an ounce of gold or 
silver had been carried away, nor a jewel appropriated from 
the seventy despoiled altars. The officials of the cathedral 
ventured forth to gather up the fragments, and were very 
agreeably surprised to find a vast quantity of their substantial 
wealth intact; but relic and statue and picture had been 
ravaged ; the banners and escutcheons of the Golden Fleece 
alone remained. 




CHAPTER XVI. 

The laost 0ne Itestore^. 

E break away for a time from the city of 
Antwerp, and the divided household of burgher 
Franck, and retrace our steps, in imagination, 
to the busy town of Ghent, and the humble 
living apartment of the Beguine nun, Margaret. 

She is not alone. Once more seated by her 
small table is the Augustin monk, while she 
is eagerly listening to a recital from his lips. 
Both have been much moved during the inter- 
view, which has already been prolonged a full 
hour, and which* yet shows no signs of dis- 
continuance. On the table, near the monk’s 
hand, is a well-worn printed book, in leather 
wrappings. He may have been reading from 
it, but it is closed now. The widow nun’s face 
is flushed with eager excitement, very unusual 
in one of her naturally calm temperament ; 
while the softened expression of the monk’s prematurely aged 
countenance is strangely at variance with its habitual harsh- 
ness. Strange to say, moreover, tears seem ready to start 
from his eyes, trained as he has been to self-command. 



The Lost One Restored. 


129 


“ But Guy, Guy, I do not understand,” cried the Beguine, 
with bewildered air, and breaking a short silence. “ At your 
demand I gave you up to the service of the Church. You 
told me at the first that it must be so ; that you could not 
serve two masters ; that natural ties must be as though they 
never had been ; that thenceforward I would have no son, 
— you, no mother.” 

“ It is true, only too true,” said the monk, softly. 

“ It was near upon breaking my heart, Guy ; but I sub- 
mitted. I believed that, as a dutiful son of the Church, you 
were to have no other home than in her bosom, no thoughts, 
feelings, desires or passions apart from the sacred office on 
which you earnestly desired to enter. Was it not so .?” 

“ So I was instructed, and so I then believed,” again softly 
replied the monk. “Yes,” he added, more firmly; “so I then 
believed. It was the common jargon ; it has again and again 
been repeated as an article of faith and practice in the Romish 
Church, that when the novice enters the cloister, he leaves 
behind him all the earthly weaknesses and engrossing cares 
of the outer world ; that when he has put upon him the 
sacerdotal robe, and has undergone the sacred tonsure, and 
taken the holy vows, he puts on also a new nature.” 

“ And is it not so asked Margaret. 

“ Is it so .?” said the monk, sadly. “ Mother, mother, dear 
mother : I bless God I can again call you by that name ! Mother, 
has it been so with you ? If, as a monk, I have forgotten that 
I had ever an earthly mother, have you, as a nun, ever cast 
off the remembrance of the son who thus cruelly deserted you 

“ I am a woman,” replied the Beguine, somewhat bitterly, 
as it seemed to the awakened and enlightened conscience of 
her visitor ; for as he covered his face with the upraised hands 
which, till then, had rested on the table, he uttered a deep 
groan ; but otherwise was silent. In a moment, however, he 

K 


130 


Within Sea Walls, 


had regained his former partial composure, and again lookea 
fixedly, but with the same softened expression as before. 

I am a woman,” the Beguine repeated, “ and to me was it 
permitted to cherish, in secret, memories too sacred to be 
outwardly displayed and boasted. It seemed to me then, at 
the very first, or my heart would surely have been broken, it 
seemed to me that conveyed to my soul was the assurance of 
Divine help. ‘I can do all things, — can bear all things, — 
through Christ who strengtheneth me,’ came into my mind. 
I dwelt upon that thought then, nor has it ever left me, 
when otherwise the burden would have been too heavy for 
woman to bear ; — ‘ I can do all things, through Christ v/ho 
strengtheneth me.’” 

“Mother, I believe all that you say!” exclaimed the monk; 
and the tears, which till then had been restrained, trickled 
down his cheeks unheeded. 

“ Am I, then,” continued the nun, “ to unlearn all I have 
learned ; and to school my heart afresh .? Is it some new 
device of the Inquisition, whose servant you have been, 
though, as you tell me, in a holy cause, to test to the utmost 
the strength of resistance ?” 

“Mother! dear mother!” and the monk’s heaving breast 
gave proof of the sincerity of his utterances : “ I know all you 
would say, for I have taught you all. But say that I have 
been better guided ; and that I would now fain learn again 
from you the lessons once learned at your knee. Listen, dear 
mother : when, those many years ago, I was persuaded to 
assume the garb of a novice in the monastery which has since 
been my only home, I did not dream of the wide gulf which 
would thenceforth separate us. The awakening came too late, 
for spiritual pride had usurped the domination, and trampled 
underfoot all that otherwise would have been most dear, while 
superstition led me to believe that only by constant, a ban- 


The Lost One Restored, 


131 

donment of the holiest instincts of humanity, together with 
the mortification of the flesh, could I merit the Divine favour. 
I have shown you how I have been otherwise taught of late, 
how many months ago my attention was attracted to the 
suspicious movements of our carillon player, and how I dis- 
covered his hoard. I need not repeat how my first thought 
was to denounce the incipient heretic : but other counsels 
prevailed. I had a liking for the wretched man, as I deemed 
him to be : and I would snatch him, if possible, from the fate 
he was braving. To accomplish this I must needs know 
somewhat of the teaching to which he was giving heed.” 

“ My son, my son ; tell me no more. Surely, I understand 
in part how it has been with you. Guy, once again my son, 
dead to me once, but alive again ; it is little I know, or care 
to know of heresies. Methinks the world will be better and 
the Church no worse when Christian shall be the common 
name of all who own Christ as their Lord. But I am only a 
poor Beguine, and know little of these high matters. Never- 
theless, blessed be God ” — and hereupon the speaker gave 
way to glad tears and much emotion — “ that we are no longer 
to be Brother Guy and Sister Margaret to each other ; but 
mother and son, as of old. If there be sin in that, be it mine, 
and mine only, to answer for.” And hereupon the aged 
woman fell upon her son’s neck and kissed him ferw ntly, as 
one who had been long lost, but was now restored to her. 

The Augustin monk shortly afterwards thoughtfully wended 
his way through the almost deserted streets to his monas- 
tery. He had taken a first step towards freedom from the 
bondage of Rome. Would he take yet another, and another } 
Whether the events to be recorded in the following chapter 
hastened or delayed his decision, remains yet to be seen. 
For this evening at least, and for many days to come, tlie 
monastery must needs be his home. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Count Egmont pacifiod Chont. 

T great ill-conceit with his Antwerp cousins, by 
reason of certain supercilious treatment he con- 
sidered them to have bestowed on his fugitive 
friend Hans the printer, Karl Franck had gone 
back to his home, and declared his own 
intention of remaining at Ghent or going to sea 
whenever his father and Lysken paid their visit. 
In fact, he had what he called “ a breeze ” with 
his cousin Agnes, the second daughter ; after 
this fashion : 

The young lady had been playing her French 
spinet, and he lounging by, listening to the 
music of some of Clement Mardt’s psalms. 

“ Cousin Agnes, 1 thought Christians were 
bound to love one another ? ” 

“Yes, truly; the gospel says so.’’ 

“ It’s a sort of relationship, is it not ? I think I read in the 
Testament — ‘All ye are brethren ?’” 

“ I suppose so — in a certain sense.” She began to have an 
inkling of whither the conversation tended. 

“ Well, you and Mademoiselle Margaret are scarce civil to 



How Count Egmont pacified Ghent. 133 

this poor young Christian who has been hunted from his 
home. You notice him not at all so much as you do your 
little dog.” 

“ We must remember the social distinctions of life,” replied 
the daughter of the burgher, who had raised himself from an 
. errand-boy. 

“ Sooner than the precepts of the gospel ? ” 

“ Cousin Karl, you are unreasonable.” 

“Not a whit. Receive this brother in the faith as you did 
the young Catholic cavalier whom I saw visiting Madam 
Philippa—” 

She opened wide her blue eyes. “ Compare a printing 
youth with Don Ferdinand de Medina !” 

“ Speak to poor Hans as Nina spoke — ” 

“ Nina ! an ignorant child : she knows nothing of the 
world—” 

“ And you acknowledge that the gospel tells you not to 
shape yourself by the ways of the world !” 

The argument was invincible ; the practice, in every age, 
has been difficult. 

And so it happened that the visit of the poorer Francks 
to the richer Francks was postponed week by week. The 
last decade of August arrived, and like wildfire through 
Brabant and Flanders spread the rumour of the image- 
breakers. 

“Great news, amazing news!” cried Karl, one morning, 
coming in from the shipping, where he passed a part of most 
days. His countenance was radiant. “ The people have risen 
in Antwerp, and broken down all the images in all the 
churches ; and they are going to do the same here.” 

He paused not to explain ; and a few minutes afterwards 
Lysken caught a glimpse of him going out with his dress 
altered as close to that of an ordinary civilian as he could make 


134 


Within Sea Walls, 


it. ** Surely he will mix in any tumult against the old 
religion,” she thought, apprehensively ; “ he is so zealous, is 
our Karl. Surely there will be great warfare if they touch 
the churches, the beautiful rich churches ; ah, they dare not !” 

In a state of great uneasiness she worked at her lace-pillow, 
until a tap at the door made her jump. “ Oh, Beguine Mar- 
garet ! I was hoping it might be Karl. He is out, and — have 
you heard any tidings — any strange news this morning.?” 

“ Everybody in Ghent knows that N6tre Dame Cathedral 
at Antwerp has been pillaged, and thirty other churches and 
monasteries within the walls,” replied the Beguine, gravely. 

“But is this town quiet.?” she asked earnestly. “I have 
been listening from the open casement for any sounds more 
than common. Oh, dear Beguine Margaret, what shall we do 
if the tumults spread to our Ghent .?” 

“Will Karl be in them.?” said the nun, fathoming her 
distress without difficulty. “ Well, child, thy God is able to 
keep him from doing evil as well as from getting harm. Here 
is thy father ; perhaps he hath more tidings.” 

The carillon player’s indignation had been stirred to the 
utmost by seeing fragments of the great pipes of the Antwerp 
organ exposed in the Vrydags Markt. All night they had 
been dragged about the streets by a noisy handful of rioters. 
“ Oh, the soul of harmony discoursing through those gilded 
mouths ! Oh, what savages to shatter in pieces that marvel oi 
mechanic work !” The carillon player knew nothing else. 

In the dusk of evening Karl slipped into the house. 
Lysken sprang to him, “ Oh, dear brother, my heart is glad you 
are come back ! But we heard no riots.” 

“As if I must needs be in a riot, little sister. Oh no, all 
has been orderly done by the men of Ghent. And here is 
a trophy for you, slit from a fine lady’s kirtle in St. Bavon’s.” 

He tossed her a strip of velvet, thickly sown with pearls. 


How Cotmt Egmont pacified Ghent 135 

"Karl! you do not mean that the cathedral is despoiled ?” 

‘‘ Bare as my palm of images, sir ; we touched nought else/* 

His father lifted up his hands in astonishment. “And 
where were the magistrates V' 

“ Sent halberdiers with us, sir, to see that all was done as 
by agreement, and the niches properly emptied. But I am 
both hungry and thirsty, little sister.” 

The story gradually came out. 

“Some of us went to Master Junius the minister’* (who 
happened to sojourn in Ghent at the time, as, being over the 
borders of Brabant, he was out of danger from the warrants 
issued for his arrest in that province). “ We asked his advice, 
and he threw cold water on our plan. We had no call from 
Divine Providence to do it. So we left him and his opinions, 
and followed our own.” 

“ Being so much wiser theologians,” said his father. 

“We went thence to the high-bailiff of Ghent, and told 
him we had a commission to demolish graven images within 
his county. Nothing like boldness ! ’tis a sailor’s motto,” 
said Karl. 

“And is not truth a sailor’s virtue .?” asked his father. 

“ Sir, it was but a colourable pretext. Might not the second 
command be our commission and warranty.? The high- 
bailiff never looked at the folded parchment that one of us 
held, but desired that we should keep the people quiet a 
little space, for a great crowd had gathered about the doors ; 
and he sent spearmen, directing that none should presume 
to oppose us in our pulling down of the images, but that 
nothing should be taken away.” 

“ Karl, Karl, it was a subterfuge — an unworthy subterfuge ; 
and I have never known such to prosper.” 

The triumph I'^sted until the first week of September, when 


Within Sea Walls. 


136 

it began to be whispered that Count Egmont was coming in 
person to his governorship of Flanders, determined rigidly 
to punish all concerned in the late image-breakings. Execu- 
tions began immediately after his arrival. Twenty heretics 
and their minister at a single heat,” was a performance of his 
trusted secretary Bakkerzeel. 

Egmont had made election between the service of the 
Catholic king who hated him, and the chieftainship of a 
Reformed league which might have saved worlds of misery 
to his hapless country; and had chosen to his own ruin. He 
had declared that he would not sully his sword by upholding 
the Inquisition; yet here he crushed heretics as pitilessly as 
any Inquisitor. Was it not by a species of retribution that 
the castle of Ghent, his stronghold while he was thus carrying 
out his master’s cruel will on the Reformed, should be a year 
hence the scene of his own unjust imprisonment and sentence 
to death 

The inhabitants of Flanders and Artois fled in numbers 
to the other provinces, or beyond seas. Gerard Franck was, 
counselled to escape while yet there was time, as his Reformed 
proclivities were well known ; but he hoped still that his 
position as carillon player to a great monastery would induce 
the fathers to protect him. Obscurity was no shelter ; spies 
were so rife, that even the King of Spain had more than once 
from his distant Castilian capital indicated the name of an 
humble heretic, his dress, habits, and appearance, to the 
Hetherland council, while desiring that he should be seized 
and put to death.^ 

^ “It is quite a laughable matter,” wrote Cardinal Granvelle, first minister in 
the Netherlands, “that the king should send us depositions made in Spain, by 
which we are to hunt for heretics here, as if we did not know of thousands already. 
Would that I had as many doubloons of annual income, as there are public and 
professed heretics in the provinces.” 


How Cou 7 tt Egmont pacified Ghent, 137 

At last, one night when the harvest moon was high over 
the towers of Ghent, a paper was thrust into Gerard Franck’s 
hand at his own door. The only writing in it ran thus : 

“For life and death. 

Joseph took the mother and child, and fled into Eg3rpt, by night.’ 

They turned the missive over and over. 

“He speaketh in parables, whoever be the v/riter,” said 
Karl, with an uneasy laugh. 

“Methinks you need not find it hard of comprehension,’* 
rejoined his father. “The man looked like a monk, too. 
Could it be one of the fathers themselves.^ But what have 
I done that I should fly } And leave all my little property 
— and my invention, so near as it is to being perfected — ” 

His poor wandering eyes fell upon Lysken, who stood by 
the stove with clasped hands and downcast look, the picture 
of despondency. 

“ My child ! my Lysken ! get ready, and we will go. And 
I to mourn over mechanic work, while thou art left to me — 
while thy safety is in question, dotard that I am!” he muttered, 
as he went to secure their little stock of money, the only 
thing they could carry with them. 

Safer were the open streets than the house, after that warn- 
ing ; they could steal along in the shadows, or sit in the deep 
porches of houses. They dared not take shelter with friends, 
lest their so doing should involve them also ; thus hidden 
they heard the clash of Egmont’s troopers galloping about, 
escorting the officials whose proper business was the arrests 
and confiscations. A grand raid was made upon heretics* 
homes that night, and much spoil won for the King of Spain ; 
whose broad seal was set on poor Franck’s boxes and tool- 
chest, as well as on the plate-coffers of the wealthy burghers 
involved in the same ruin. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

^oncjerning the 

HE Regent, Margaret of Parma, being sorely 
frightened by the iconoclasts, even to the point 
of taking flight, had consented to sign a decree, 
granting some liberty of worship to the Re- 
formed. All places where preaching had taken 
place before the twenty-fourth of August were 
licensed for preaching still ; which meant chiefly 
that in certain meadows and woods it might 
be lawful to hold Protestant services. 

After which concession the noble lady went 
into her closet, and wrote a despairing letter 
to her brother the King of Spain ; declaring 
that she had committed the most fearful sin 
of her life ; imploring him not to be bound by 
her act, but to come as soon as possible to 
avenge the ancient Church in person. 

We of the nineteenth century, to whom the archives of 
Simancas are open, can see behind the surface of events, and 
marvel at the unceasing duplicity of the rulers of the Nether- 
lands. But the Reformed, believing there was yet faith in 
princes, burst into an acclaim of joy. The golden age of 



Coftcerning the Accor 139 

toleration had come ! The credulous folk began to talk of 
building churches, and exercising the rites of their religion. 

Count Egmont at Ghent undeceived them in about a fort- 
night by his severities. Knowing the false heart of the court, 
he tried to please the Regent by paying no regard whatever to 
the Accord, in his governments of Flanders and Artois. But 
the Prince of Orange acted differently, and endeavoured to 
carry out the decree with justice. He found that in several of 
the Antwerp churches Reformed preaching had taken place; 
Herman Stryker the Dominican had twice discoursed to an 
enormous concourse assembled in the shattered cathedral. 
Calling the heads of all parties together, the prince at last 
procured an agreement that three of the city churches should 
be set apart for use by “the religion,” one for each sect ; also 
that “the Inquisition should cease from that time forward for 
ever ! ” As if the many-headed monster could be slain by a 
declaration ! 

Thus it came to pass that Nina could write in her “diurnal 
book : ” 

“ I can scarce believe that I haye attended Protestant 
worship in one of our Antwerp churches, cleared of relics and 
images ; and heard the Word of God purely preached by 
Master Herman, once a monk of St. Dominic. 

“Never had I been before at a meeting of our people; 
because of my infirmity I could not get to the crypt where it 
' was wont to be held, nor yet travel outside the walls as far as 
the Baron of Berghen s wood to open-air preaching. But 
when our great prince, the Burgrave, made matters so smooth 
that certain of the churches within the city were allotted to 
us, it became possible for me to have this wonderful pleasure. 
I had several times heard discourses from renowned preachers 
of the mendicant orders. But this sermon was something 
quite different. There were no accounts of prodigies and 


• 140 


Within Sea Walls, • 


saintly miracles, which it would tax the faith of the most 
orthodox Catholic to credit fully ; no exaltation of relics, or 
indulgences, nor talk of the duty of adorning churches and 
endowing convents. Master Herman did indeed say a few 
words about building meeting-houses in the waste places 
where the Reformed had been wont to assemble, and which 
are now assured to them by the word of the Duchess- regent 
herself; he exhorted the rich to give of their wealth to this 
good object. Even the women might sell their jewels, for 
those meeting-houses would be as it were a scaffolding to 
Gods spiritual temple of souls. And this set me thinking 
of certain rich trifles I possess, and value only for the love of 
him who gave them — my dear father ; but more of this anon. 

“ How did that preacher exalt Christ ! He said the Papists 
do not leave our Lord the hundredth part of redemption, with 
all their makeshifts of masses, aves, disciplines, pilgrimages, 
prayers to saints. Whereas pardon is wholly from Jesus; 
none other name under heaven is given for saving of souls. 

“ I had tablets to my girdle, and noted down a phrase or two. 

“ ‘ While our condemnation holds us guilty and trembling 
before the judgment-seat of God, the punishment to which we 
were subject has been laid upon the innocent. All that can 
be imputed to us in the sight of God is transferred upon Jesus 
Christ. The Divine Founder of the kingdom has suffered in 
place of the children of the kingdom ; our peace is only to be 
found in the pains of Christ our Redeemer.’ 

“He said these were the words of the celebrated John 
Calvin. And further : 

“*To be useful to us, this doctrine must penetrate into the 
soul, pass into the manners and regulate the actions of our 
life. Since the Holy Ghost consecrates us to be the temples 
of God, we must endeavour earnestly that the glory of God 
fills the temple ! ’ 
















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A 


> 





4 


f 


f 




* 



4 








t 

i 


. p 





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Concernmg the ** Accord** 


143 


“ I think I shall remember that last expression for a long 
time ; I shall try to turn it into a prayer. Ah, I am so often 
cross and out of temper, and bear the pain so badly which 
God sends me ! 

“But what was the singing of the Psalms! ‘The voice of 
many waters and mighty thunderings ’ came into my mind ; 
I could not help shedding tears. ‘With His own right hand 
and with His holy arm hath He gotten Himself the victory!* 
That singing was more to me than even the sermon. The 
pent-up feelings of thousands of hearts seemed gushing forth. 

Our people are so glad of the Accord, that decree of tolera- 
tion issued by the Regent. They can walk openly through 
the streets now, each with his wife and children, to the 
preaching, none making them afraid. And Aunt Philippa 
thinks the Church dreadfully dishonoured. 

“ ‘ But the king will never consent to it — never ; he is too 
ardent a Catholic,* she said, yesterday morning. 

“ ‘ I fear you are right,’ said my father, who does not look 
at all so hopeful as others of the Reformed. ‘An evil day 
will it be for Antwerp that he refuses.’ 

“‘The blessing of the Church is better than commerce,* 
rejoined Aunt Philippa, loftily. 

“ ‘ We may have to test that yet,’ was my father’s reply. 
* Sir Thomas Gresham, the English agent here, has already, 
as I learn, warned the companies of London merchants that 
there is little security in our city for their cargoes: and advises 
that they fix on another port for sale of English com.modities 
— probably Hamburg, at mouth of the Elbe. But more 
alarming even than this sign of the times, is it to have our 
own manufacture coming back to us — English cloth woven 
by Netherland artizans who have been compelled to fly for 
their lives, and to whom the Queen Elizabeth hath graciously 
granted asylum.' 


144 


Withm Sea Walls, 


course the queen of the heretics will be glad to injure 
our sovereign in every possible manner/ said Aunt Philippa. 
I have noticed more than once, how hateful the very name of 
that queen is to people of the old religion ; even Father 
Adrian, gentle old man that he is, gets passionate against her, 
though if she be such a very wicked woman as they say, I 
cannot imagine why her subjects, who read and love the 
Bible, can permit her to sit on their throne. 

“ When we returned from the preaching, I rested awhile 
in the great hall ; and my father sat down beside me, just 
as he had helped me from the coach. I preferred my request 
at once. ‘ Father, I should like to give something my own 
self to the building of the new church for the Reformed at the 
Mollekenstraem/ and among other things that were mine own, 
I mentioned the massive silver cup laid to my place at table, 
and which bears on it the design of the Good Shepherd and 
His lambs. ‘Father, give me a bowl of brown Dinant ware 
instead, like thine.’ 

“ ‘ It were not a bad thought, little one : ’ and he turned 
himself so as to have in full view the handsome tall beaufets, 
loaded in three stages with silver plate. ‘ Only the other day 
methought that were a display unfitting a Christian man, 
whose treasury is in heaven. Wouldst be sorry if all were 
stript away, Nina.?’ 

“ I was amazed to hear him talk like this ; for well I re- 
member his pride when he procured the griffin’s egg^ mounted 
with silver, the greatest rarity possible in a drinking-cup ; and 
how often he has shown those silver ornaments to his guests. 
And now to sell them all ! Truly my father is a changed man. 

“ ‘ Let nothing be done through vainglory/ he repeated, 
more as if reasoning with himself than speaking to me. 
‘What is that exhibition but vainglorious.? And I cannot 

^ Probably the egg of an ostrich. 


Concerning the Accord'' 


145 


aid this building otherwise, the times being hard upon all 
manner of commerce. That set of hanaps,^ so richly parcel- 
gilt, would build many a yard of good wall, within which true 
and living stones might be hewn out. Wfiat say you, little 
Nina? Shall they go?’ 

“ I never thought till afterwards how much Aunt Philippa 
would disapprove. For these beaufets of plate adorn every 
wealthy burgher’s house. 

“Another great surprise in the evening. 

“ I was in my own chamber through fatigue, and indeed 
desiring to ponder over what I had heard, and note down 
some of it in this diurnal-book ; when my father brought to 
me my uncle, Gerard Franck, and Cousin Lysken. 

“ I liked her at once, though she was very shy, and spoke 
hardly a word ; and I thought of the fable by Master .^sop 
about the hare and the frogs whom he frightened when he 
was himself running away from the hounds. Could it be 
possible she was afraid of me, who am afraid of nearly every- 
body myself? They had come away from Ghent in great 
haste, owing to a warning received from some unknown 
person. Evidently the Reformed are not safe there, as here 
under our good Prince of Orange. 

“ My uncle . also looks kind and grave, but troubled, and 
has the humble air of a poor man : I heard him tell my father 
he had lost everything. 

“ ‘Then I might say to you the words of our Lord, Gerard 
i — “ Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward 
in heaven!” He has provided already for your temporal 
needs — I have enough for both : and art thou not only my 
brother in the flesh, but also in the Lord ? ’ With that poor 
Uncle Gerard’s face brightened, and a ray of joy lit up Lysken’s 
likewise. 

^ Cups on stems, with or without covers. 

L 


146 


Within Sea Walls, 


“ I reached forth my hand. ‘ Lysken, we are only cousins ; 
but shall we not be sisters in the Lord ?’ When she kissed 
me, her eyes were bright with tears. 

“ ^ Karl said he was sure you were good and kind,’ she said, 
grateful for the little sympathy. 

“‘Where is KarP’ 

“ ‘ Gone to look for his old ship, to take service in her for 
the Indies again. Ah, my Karl!’ It seemed to escape her 
without intention — such a heavy sigh. 

“ ‘ You will not see him for a long time ?’ 

“‘Not for years; perhaps never.’ 

“‘Lysken, trust thy God better than to be foreboding ill !’ 

I would not mistrust Him ; but perchance it may be His 
will that I should see Karl no more, as it has been His will 
we should leave our pleasant little home and lose all our goods.’ 

“ Her soul dwelt in bitterness just now, this poor Lysken. 

“ ‘ For thy sake and the Gospel’s,’ were words of Christ 
which rose involuntarily to my lips. ‘Ah, Lysken, you will 
have a blessing more than any of us 1 ’ 

“ The bright look returned ; and I knew that she was a true 
believer in Christ, despite her sadness, for she could draw 
comfort from His sayings. 

“ And as to your brother, think not so unkindly of your 
God that He intendeth you pain,’ I said. ‘ Is He not our 
Father in heaven } So whatever He sends us that seems an 
evil, must be good in earnest ; don’t you think so. Cousin 
Lysken ? I would not expect of my own dear father a. hard 
action to hurt me V 

“ Of course, Lysken knew all quite well : but she was 
soothed to hear it afresh. ‘ God has allowed us to lose every- 
thing,’ she repeated, in a doubting way; ‘while those bad 
persecutors are full of riches and power!’ 

“‘You are to live for ever in His heaven, in one of His 


Concerning the Accord” 147 

many mansions, Lysken ; and don't you think He will make 
amends then?’ 

“ I persuaded my father to go to the dark closet in the 
wainscot of his chamber, where he keeps the prohibited books, 
and asked him to leave me a Flemish Bible. There is some- 
thing in the Psalms so very like what Lysken was saying, 
and I wanted to search it out. 

“ Also I read to her these words which I had copied into 
my book, concerning the reason that the Christian man hath 
more sorrow than the worldly man : — 

“ ‘ The corn is first threshed in the barn along with the 
straw ; but afterwards it is pressed and crushed alone by the 
millstone.' 

But the wheat is to be gathered into Christ’s garner with 
eternal joy; the chaff is to be burned with unquenchable fire. 

“ I have found out that one great cause of Lysken’s 
anxiety about Karl is, that she does not think him a real 
believer. * If I knew he was truly converted to the faith of 
Jesus Christ,’ she said, in tears, ‘I could let him go to the 
ends of the world.’ 

“ I replied that from his conversation he seemed very 
devoted to the religion. 

“‘Ah, but there is a difference. It is not that he loves 
our Lord and His truth, but that he hates popery. He would 
hew down images, and face danger like a hero ; but he relies 
not on our Saviour as I would wish to see. I fear — I fear 
that he has not the true love of Christ in his heart !’ 

“‘We will pray that he may have, dear Lysken. Remem- 
berest not the sure word — “ If two of you shall agree on earth 
as touching anything that ye shall ask, it shall be done ?”’ 

“Lysken has been allowed to share my chamber. T am 
sure we shall be very happy together — at least I shall be ; 
for I feel her like a new sister already ; and she has never 


148 


Within Sea Walls, 


had one. But her regrets are many for the home in Ghent ; 
and she knows not how my uncle Gerard can live idle. It 
seems he is a great mechanician and inventor, and had nearly 
completed a most wonderful instrument of music, which would 
make him very famous, could he only finish it.” 

***** 

“ My father has found a place for Karl in a merchan*t ship 
of his going round to Venice, and promoted him to be super- 
cargo. This will not be so long a voyage as to the Indies, 
and in much safer seas. Lysken looked almost satisfied as 
she bade him farewell.” 




CHAPTER XIX. 

The Spreading of t»ight. 

IGHT hundred guilders had been set on the head 
of Franciscus Junius by Count Egmont, the 
pacificator of Ghent. That is to say, eight 
hundred if he were taken alive, in order to be 
put to death in the orthodox way with pine 
fagots ; but four hundred only if his corpse were 
delivered to the authorities. The high-bailiff of 
Ghent came to apprehend him, but he had just 
left his lodging, “ by chance,” as men say. 

Marvellous were bis escapes. An order was 
published that no person should go by water to 
the Carthusians (a place outside Ghent where 

the Reformed met for worship), lest weapons 

might be concealed in the boats. Junius had 
not heard of this prohibition, and went in a 
barge, as usual. “ In the meantime the high- 
bailiff, with a number of halberdiers, waited for 
them on the bridge near the gate by which they were to pass, 

and spying them at a distance, ran to meet them on the 

shore. All the people in the boat being amazed and dejected, 
were in great pain for Junius, and cast about what they should 



Within Sea Walls, 


150 

do ; but he, relying upon God, bade them be of good cheer, 
and not to have the least concern for him any more than if he 
were not present ” The passengers were ordered instantly to 
leave the boat, and Junius came out in his turn. When 
passing through the halberdiers, he saluted their captain, who, 
sitting on horseback, returned the compliment very civilly, ' 
keeping a sharp eye meanwhile on the boat, to observe 
whether there might not still be somebody concealed in it. 
Thus he escaped that snare : and in his relation of the oc- 
currence concludes, — “Trust then to the Providence of the 
Lord, thou that servest the Lord, and acquiesce in His certain 
truth and sure faith; for the Lord who watches over us is 
faithful.” 

Shortly afterwards he was preaching in a country town 
near Bruges, and being warned of search made for him, 
determined to spend the night in the fields, so as to endanger 
no one by sheltering in a house. But a messenger from the 
Reformed at Bruges found him out, and besought him to go 
thither, within the very walls where Count Egmont happened 
at the time to sojourn. Regarding it as a call from God, he 
went, disguised in the garb of a peasant with whom he 
changed clothes. Being admitted into the town by the 
wicket, he passed through all the watches undiscovered ; for 
it had pleased God very providentially to join to the vvatch 
that night a burgher of Bruges, who, not intending any such 
thing, paved the way for him without opposition or ex- 
amination : for he, taking the minister to be one of his 
acquaintance, spoke familiarly to him, to Junius’s great 
surprise. Thus being himself deceived, he undesignedly 
deceived the watch, to the great advantage of the Reformed 
Church. 

But Junius dared not remain long in any one place. He 
came again to Antwerp, and one evening presented himself 


The Spreading of Light 15 1 

at the porch of burgher Franck’s house, with him a monk 
wearing cowl and scapular. 

Now if there was one among the Reformed ministers whom 
Madam Philippa hated more perfectly than others, it was the 
pastor Junius. To him she attributed her brother’s lamentable 
perversion ; it was from one of his fervid sermons that the 
burgher had returned home like a man blinded by excess of 
light, and had cast off priestly trammels at once and for ever. 
She would at any time have been glad to hear of his being 
arrested, for she sincerely believed that he was deluding souls 
to their eternal ruin. Aware of these strong sentiments, 
burgher Franck whispered on the threshold — “You must be 
Maitre Frangois, a Walloon gentleman of my acquaintance, 
and this reverend friar ” 

“ Give him thy right hand of fellowship : a brother indeed 
— chosen and faithful — saved out of the great Babylon!” 

A gleam of satisfaction passed over the pale ascetic face, 
as he received cordial welcome ; and all went into the hall, 
where the supper-table was spread, and a ruddy wood fire 
burned behind the andirons. 

They had much exchange of news. Public prints existed 
not in those days, nor regular posts ; but the Reformed every- 
where kept up an intercommunication on matters affecting 
their own interests ; with wondrous rapidity did such tidings 
travel throughout the land, and even from distant Wittenberg 
and Geneva. Soon the conversation flowed briskly, though 
guardedly, during the ensuing meal. 

Madam Philippa, who sat at the supper-table with a long- 
handled fan shading her face, glanced from time to time 
sharply at the Walloon gentleman, and continued to watch 
him from behind it ; also the stranger monk, whom she had 
vainly tried to draw into conversation. 

Other news was presently dwelt upon, as coming from 


152 


Within Sea Walls. 


Amsterdam and Leyden, Utrecht and Delft, where the Prince 
of Orange was stadtholder. Under his benignant toleration, 
the Churches of the Reformed had begun publicly to organize 
themselves and to establish ministers. 

“Lutheran and Calvanist agree beyond Rhine, it seems,” 
remarked burgher Franck, as they discussed these matters. 
“ It were much to be wished they could do so in Antwerp.” 

“Alas for these divisions!” said Maitre Frangois. “It is 
wonderful how a little lull in the fury of our enemies brings 
them out as virulent as ever.” 

Madam Philippa smiled a pitying smile, and remarked on 
the unity of doctrine and practice in the Church Catholic. 

“Yes, lady, the uniformity of death,” rejoined the Walloon 
gentleman. “ Life must show itself in supposititious diverseness. 
But as to the variance between the theological systems of the 
heads of the Reformation, I have studied it, and found 
essential oneness. Salvation for nothing — salvation God’s free 
gift to guilty sinners, is the ground whereon both stand. But 
Master Luther looked at it from the human point of view, and 
made justification by faith his crowning article ; Master Calvin 
was jealous for the honour of God, and the sovereign power 
of God seemed to him the most important point. And 
further ” 

The lady arose, and with a sweeping courtesy to the 
strangers intimated that she did not require instruction in any 
new creeds ; she was satisfied with what had been believed by 
the fathers and all the saints. 

“ Can I have speech of that lady ? ” said the monk, pushing 
back his cowl, as if just woke out of a reverie. “ She is a soul 
still in darkness, needing Christ’s gospel as much as any 
idolater of them all!” 

But Madam Philippa sent back a reply to his humble 
request for an interview, that if he were a renegade from his 


153 


The Spreading of Light. 

order, as she suspected, she could have naught to do with such 
an one. To which he made no answer, but, drawing a book 
from his broad sleeve, appeared presently deep in the study of 
it, until Gerard Franck and his daughter, who had been 
absent at a secret religious meeting, to which they had pro- 
cured access, came in, when he raised his head, recognizing 
the voice of the former. Gerard, on his side, no sooner saw 
the face than a curdling of fear ran to his timid old heart. 
Come to spy him out in this retreat — could it be } 

The monk saw the apprehension. “Truly I may be 
mistrusted,” said he ; “ but thou dost not think it a thing too 
hard for the Lord’s grace to enlighten Guy Regis the per- 
secutor .? ” 

That marvel seemed to swallow up all other ideas of the 
carillon player; it is doubtful if he heard anything of the 
conversation ensuing. He drew a paper from his doublet, 
and placed it before the monk, who involuntarily smiled. 

“Then it is to thee that we owe escape and life,” said 
Gerard Franck. “ Good friend, God reward thy kind service !” 

“ I was but repaying the deliverance thy book of Master 
Luther had begun for me,” he answered ; and a few words of 
explanation followed. “Good burgher, couldst give me the 
use of writing material 

They adjourned to a small oriel chamber at the end of the 
hall, where the monk sat down, and was presently absorbed in 
his composition, making frequent reference to the small book 
he had drawn from his sleeve. 

He was roused by the appeal of Junius to him by name. 
“ The Antwerp churches are closed again ; so thy preaching 
here is scarce possible. Brother Guy Regis.” 

“ Wherefore ? Do not the suburbs stand, and the woods ? 
— ^ay, and the market-place.? Fear not but I shall find 
pulpits enow and he bent again to his writing. 


154 


Within Sea Walls, 


“The Word is as a fire in his bones,” whispered Junius; 
“ he rests not day and night till he can preach the faith that 
once he destroyed; and much I fear me that the career of 
such zeal must be short.” 

“And his mother, the Beguine Margaret?” asked Gerard 
Franck. 

“ Ah ! she is not far from the kingdom ; she wept over him 
and blessed him, and went back to her Beguinage to pray for 
him. A holy woman, friend Franck, though she holdeth not 
altogether with us ; but the root of the matter is in her.” 

“ Burgher ! will you give this to the lady who would have 
no converse with a renegade?” It was the writing on which 
he had been engaged. “ I show her that Christ’s words 
supersede all fathers’ and saints’ words ; that the Reformed is 
no ‘ new religion,’ but the faith of apostles and martyrs revived ; 
I tell her that my own life possessed no ray of peace till I 
saw how Christ had done everything for me; and I had 
nought to do but receive salvation from Him, and let Him 
reign in my heart. Perhaps she may hearken to the voice of 
one just risen from the dead.” 

He stood up, drawing his cowl forward, and tightened the 
girdle of his serge gown. 

“Brother, I go to the convent of St. Augustine. The 
taunting word awhile agone did remind me that I have a 
duty still toward mine order. Why should those monks 
never hear the gospel ? Nay, detain me not ; they are 
bound to show hospitality to strangers, and some of them 
know me already. I shall come to no harm ; and if I do, the 
evil my God permits is good.” 

But burgher Franck laid on him hi§ hand. 

“ It is a terrible risk ; in this city of ours there hath been 
many a secret execution. I mind me of the good deacon of 
♦■he Church of the Holy Cross, John de Boscher, whom they 


The Spreading of Light, 155 

essayed to drown privately in the prison, and finally thrust 
through with a sword. None knew at the time what became 
of him ; he bore no public testimony by his death. Dear 
brother, beware what you do ; cast not away God’s gift of 
mortal life.” 

‘‘Bore he no public testimony, sayest thou.?” and the 
ardent monk pushed back his cowl. “Unto the principalities 
and powers in heavenly places was that witness ; rank over 
rank of angels may have peopled that dungeon, and surely 
received that triumphant soul. Tempt me not, burgher ; 
woe is upon me if I preach not the gospel ! Rather say unto 
me, God speed!” 

Nothing could alter his purpose ; into the falling darkness 
of the streets he strode forth, with the book that could burn 
him in his bosom. 

Madam Philippa did not reject his writing, but locked it 
away in a curious cabinet of many drawers which stood in 
her apartment. “ Floris/’ she said, “ I ought to tell you that 
this night I have not been deceived. Your Maitre Frangois, 
a Walloon gentleman with theology at his fingers’ ends, is the 
hateful Genevan heretic Junius. Do not bring him within 
this house too often, I beseech you.” 

An expression her brother did not immediately understand 
gleamed in her eyes. Thinking over it afterwards, two ideas 
came to the surface ; the confessional, and the household spy 
at the confessional 


CHAPTER XX. 


The Beguine Margaret's Jog, 

HE daring monk came unscathed out of that 
wolf^s mouth, the Augustinian monastery ; but 
even he acknowledged that the experiment was 
too hazardous to be repeated. During the morn- 
ing meal in the refectory he had asked leave 
to take the place of the brother whose turn it 
was to read aloud, which was willingly yielded, 
as some new incident in the monotonous monkish 
round. A great black-letter tome of St. Augu^ 
tine’s works lay on the desk, overlaid by the 
usual “Acta Sanctorum” and Psalter of St 
Bonaventure ; these he put aside, and from the 
founder of the order he read a few sentences. 

“ Fecisti nos ad te, Domine, et inquietum est 
cor nostrum donee requiescat in te 
And again : 

‘*0 Christian soul, look on the wounds of the suffering 
One, the blood of the dying One, the price paid for our 
redemption. Think how great these things be, and weigh 

1 “ O Lord, for Thyself hast Thou made us : and restless is our heart until it rests 
in Thee.” 










159 


The Beguine Margarets Joy, 

thern in the balance of thy mind, that He may be wholly 
nailed to thy heart, who for thee was all nailed unto the 
cross 

It was a very uncommon manner of reading, no doubt. 
The monks looked up from their trenchers, stirred by the 
ringing intonation, the utterance ingrained with conviction ; 
so different from the monotonous mumbling of a legend, 
which they were accustomed to hear. He broke off and 
began to speak, and in a sort of running commentary preached 
fully and forcibly (for the time was short and the opportunity 
precious) the glad tidings of free salvation. 

Whisperings and murmurings arose ere he had done, and 
the sub-prior, scenting heresy in some statement, bade him 
be silent and come down. He obeyed ; the seed had been 
sown, though out of season ; and faith cometh by hearing. 

The monks dispersed in agitation ; the offender was closeted 
with the sub-prior. Stoutly he maintained that none but the 
doctrines of Augustine had he preached ; and the official, 
not being learned enough to contest the point, and dearly 
loving a quiet life, presently bade him go his way and trouble 
them no more. 

And so Guy Regis was not imprisoned, but went forth any- 
whither, to preach the gospel he had so lately learned. Out 
of all grooves did he step emancipated, who had been bound 
with the iron of monastic rule. To no synod did he give 
himself up, nor enrol himself in a council of preachers; he 
wanted not a settled charge, but work on the outskirts and 
in the dangerous places of the nascent church. Risk could 
not deter him, but rather had a fascination for his footsteps. 
In wayside hostelries, in barges on the canals, in lonely farm- 
houses, in obscure lanes of cities, he itinerated far and wide, 
publishing his message wherever there was a soul to hear 
and be saved. Out on bare heaths, down in fishers’ hamlets 


i6o 


Within Sea Walls. 


among the sand-hills, he gathered the sparse population to 
hear this new thing: “God so loved the world as to send 
His only Son.” In village market-places he took his station 
beside the well, and told the women of the Living Water. By 
such agency as his, by such incessant zeal, were many pro- 
vinces of the seventeen Netherlands filled with masses of 
Protestant believers among “the common people.” His very 
daring seemed his defence ; for he wore no disguises. The 
previously ascetic life he had led enabled him to endure 
hardships of lying in open fields, and going long without 
food ; and his spirit seemed to burn the brighter for it all. 

Once in the spring months of 1567, the Beguine Margaret, 
his mother, coming into her little tiled kitchen after a day’s 
ministering among the poor, found him waiting for her in the 
dusk. She, who knew how his name had been cast out as 
evil, how the lesser and the greater excommunication had 
been fulminated against him, with every portentous anathema 
of the Church (there had not been wanting a foolish friendly 
old Beguine to pick up every detail and record it to the 
mother’s shrinking heart), was terrified for his safety here in 
the Beguinage. 

“ Fear not, mother ; my life is hid with Christ in God ! 
The Inquisition cannot reach it there!” 

A brief interview, but a renewal of olden joys to the poor 
mother, who found the child’s heart in her son again. What 
an humble delight it was to prepare supper for him, to enact 
even once the scene of the family, which the ordinances and 
will-worship of men had broken and rendered impossible! 
Ah, the gaunt worn face which she remembered as so round 
and tender! And Ulric, the stupid orphan boy whom she 
had adopted, actually stood within the circle of his arm while 
repeating his Credo before bedtime, and getting a rare ex- 
position of the same. 


The Begiiine Margaret* s Joy, i6i 

“ Now, mother, I have a message for thee to take to a poor 
soul that liveth by lace-work in a lane near my old convent. 
I saw her son in Leyden, a printing youth, whose name I mind 
not, and he gave me a letter for her, which is shut in my staff.’' 

The monk unscrewed a thick handle, and pulled out more 
than one paper, rolled up tightly in small compass. “ I 
promised she should receive it without fail, when I should 
visit Ghent." 

Often did the wandering pastors bear news between the 
Churches thus ; and even now Regis was the bearer of com- 
munications which required him to go on to Antwerp im- 
mediately. 

The Beguine knew the poor widow Van Muler, and had 
done her own part to shelter her and her family in the storm 
that Count Egmont originated. From a lenient old priest of 
her acquaintance she procured the required certificate that the 
widow was no dangerous character, but a good Christian ; and 
under the egis of this scrap of paper she was left to work her 
lace in peace, and send up a prayer for Hans. His letter 
begged of her to break up house, and go north to him. He 
was earriing enough for all at the printing trade, and had 
begun to love the quaint Dutch city, with its canal-streets and 
alleys of linden. Moreover the Reformed were in less danger 
where the Prince of Orange held the authoritative position of 
stadtholder,* — already was his name an anchor of hope. 

Proud and grateful was the poor widow over that letter, 
and many times the moisture dimmed her cumbrous spectacles 
ere it was read through. Her Hans was now a man, — that 
was part of the emotion. He had left her a boy, and had 
grown in a few months to the maturity of a tried character, 
under the educating pressure of responsibilities, than which 
there is no abler educator. “And thou wilt go to him?” 
asked the kind Beguine. 


i 62 


Within Fea Walls. 


“ That is matter for prayer to God,” she answered. I will 
ask Him to guide me as He would have me move.” 

But we are anticipating next day’s events. All the Beguine’s 
persuasions could not induce her son to rest from his journey 
in Ghent for even one night. “Nay, the darkness is my best 
travelling time, mother.” How she liked that word from his 
lips I — and he spoke it often in this interview, as if resuming 
the long-broken relationship. 

“To lose thee just as I have found thee !” she exclaimed. 

“ Being safe in the love of our Lord, each can never lose 
the other,” he answered, quietly. “ Long eternity is coming, 
mother! ‘We shall see His face, and His name shall be in 
our foreheads.’ ” 

He gazed, as in abstraction, at the fire for a few moments, 
and then stooping forward, kissed her aged hands, rose up, 
and went away, his countenance lifted to the heaven of stars. 
His cowl procured him ready pass from the drowsy burgher 
watch at the gates of the city. For the livelong night he 
travelled over the level shadowed lands towards great 
Antwerp. Did he want for company on the lonely road ? 
God had given his ardent spirit a most lively apprehension of 
that mighty world of unseen beings which encompasses this 
earth so closely ; and not only did Guy Regis believe that 
angels were nigh, but that his own beloved Saviour Jesus 
Christ, for whom he was ready to be bound, and also to die, 
was within reach of a word, a thought, — nay, was beside him, 
even without appeal. 

Long before reaching the suburbs of the great city he 
became aware of a ruddy gleam, as of numerous watch-fires 
of a camp. “ Tiiey have pitched near Ostrawell,” he said to 
himself, recognizing the localities. He now walked warily, as 
in an enemy’s country, noting every sign ; for though he had 
not chosen to tell his mother of it, he knew that a band of 


TJie Beguuie Margaret's Joy* 163 

men, who called themselves “ the Reformed,” and were led by 
a brave youth, Marnix of Thoulouse, brother to the famous 
St. Aldegonde, had come up the Scheldt in boats, and pitched 
their camp in a strong position among the sheltering dykes. 
Battle and bloodshed there would be to a certainty, as soon as 
the Catholic troops under the Seigneur de Beauvoir should 
arrive. 

And this very night of 12th March, 1567, they were 
arriving, hot and eager for the fray: among them four 
hundred of those veteran Walloons of Egmont, who hated 
heretics to the death. In small parties they stole along by 
unfrequented paths, having rendezvous with their leader at 
the abbey of St. Bernard, a league from Antwerp walls. 

“What would the morrow bring forth?” 





CHAPTER XXL 


$(xme Extracts frnm Wina^s Journal* 


ARCH the 1st, 1567. — They are gone from us, — 
my uncle Gerard and my sweet cousin Lysken, 
who embarked yesterday for Rotterdam, thence 
on to Leyden, where they hope to have a quiet 
home. They departed under the care of one 
Kasper Arnoldzoon, who has endured much 
persecution because of his faith, and who is very 
earnest in spreading abroad the knowledge of 
the true gospel. It is well that it should be so, 
yet it leaves me sad and full of trouble ; for my 
cousin was to me as a very dear sister, — so 
loving and gentle, yet so earnest and brave. 

I will not speak much of the cause of their 
leaving us ; yet may I write down here that the 
1 present confusion around us, which seems daily 

increasing, so alarmed my uncle, that he has been 
driven to seek safety in greater obscurity. I fear me he will 
seek it in vain ; for, alas ! neither poverty, nor obscurity, nor 
attempted concealment, can long keep in safety in this un- 
happy land any who are faithful to the truth, as I think Gerard 
Franck to be, and as I am sure my dear cousin Lysken is. 


So 7 ne Extracts from Nina's Joimtal. 165 

Yet I must needs confess that this timid fear is not the only 
reason which has led to this separation. Ours is a divided 
household ; Aunt Philippa is become, as it seems, more bitter 
against all who think not with her. True, she stands in awe 
of my father, and in his presence restrains her speech ; but 
she has constant bickerings with Margaret and Agnes, 
because of her religion ; and they, methinks, do not always 
remember what the apostle tells us of that wisdom which is 
from above, — that is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and 
easy to be entreated. I fear me, too, that they sometimes 
fail in that reverence which should be paid to our elders. 
And then it grieved me much to see that while my aunt 
disliked my uncle Gerard and Lysken because of their faith in 
the gospel, my sisters despised them because of their lowly 
condition ; therefore I blame them not for departing, though 
I shall sorely miss the companionship of my cousin. May 
God speed them on their journey, and ever have them in safe 
keeping ! My dear father gave them a letter to a friend of 
his in Leyden, commending them to his care ; nor did he 
suffer them to go empty-handed, but has made provision for 
their future sustenance; though Lysken would fain not have 
had it so, for she feels assured that her skill in lace-making 
will suffice for their maintenance. And so Kasper Arnold- 
zoon also told her, and he is a dealer in such wares. 

And this puts me in mind that Lysken and that young 
man seem mightily fond of each other. I guessed this by 
Lysken’s brightened countenance wheo first his name was 
spoken of ; and methought I saw it more clearly when they 
met I spoke of this to my cousin, and she blushed a little 
when she replied, “ How could one help feeling an interest in 
a brave, godly youth, who had borne so much for the gospePs 
sake, and who is in daily peril because of the work of faith in 
which he is engaged ?” I could not refute this, nor deny to 


i66 


Within Sea Walls, 


myself that Kasper has much intelligence and an excellent 
bearing, and is also well favoured ; yet had I rather it were 
not so with my sweet cousin, who might surely look higher, 
if she must needs ever marry. But, ah me-! this is worldly 
pride, and it becomes me to recollect that my own dear father 
is as lowly in birth, and was once as poor and despised as 
this young dealer in lace. Yet surely this is not a time to be 
thinking of marrying and giving in marriage ! 

March the 8th. — My heart is sad to-day. Let me take for 
my text the words of the ninety-third Psalm : “ The floods 
have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice ; 
the floods lift up their waves. The Lord on high is mightier 
than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves 
of the sea.” 

I would that I could feel this holy confidence ; but I am 
very weak. Lord, increase my faith I 

My dear father has been sitting with me, and has tried to 
encourage me; but even he cannot hide from himself that 
there is great ground for fear. The whole city is in confusion 
and tumult. Count Brederode has departed for a time with 
his troops ; he is gone to the north to busy himself with 
further enrolments; but it is said that he means to return. 
And meanwhile there is a great gathering at Ostrawell, within 
sight of the city walls, under a young leader, who is brother 
to the lord of Saint Aldegonde. My father tells us that this 
young man is, like his brother, a sincere convert from the 
Church of Rome, but that his followers are, for the most part, 
like those who-went to David at the cave of Adullam, — being 
such as are in distress, or in debt, or discontented. My father 
also says that Marnix of Thoulouse (which is the young leader's 
name) has no experience ; and that it seems madness in him 
to undertake such a daring piece of rebellion against the 


Some Extracts fj'om Nina's Journal. 167 

Regent. All these things make me troubled ; yet “ the Lord 
on high is mightier than the noise of many waters.” 

There are other troubles besides these, and, alas I alas ! I 
have lost my pleasant companion and dear comforter, darling 
Lysken ; and Ursel does nothing but groan and pour out 
doleful lamentations, fearing lest the old stork, which has for 
so many years had a home in our house-top, should not return 
with the summer. And truly it would not be strange if he 
does not, seeing what constant din is around us, — enough, 
one would think, to keep away a whole colony of storks. 

But I write of other and greater matters than this foolish 
fancy. It seems as though the spirit of discord had broken 
loose among those who should be of one heart and mind, — 
I mean those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, 
and are earnest in their testimony against the lying vanities 
of Rome ; for even these are bitter towards each other, there 
being two great parties, the Lutherans and the Calvinists, 
who so revile each other, that it is a cause of triumph to the 
Catholics. So my father says ; and indeed I partly experience 
and witness this every day in our own household. And I am 
weary of all this, wondering how it can be, that they who 
have the love of God shed abroad in their hearts can find 
room there for such petty jealousies and unholy strife. Me- 
thinks sometimes I could fain say, “Oh that I had wings like 
a dove ! then would I fly away, and be at rest ; I would 
wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. I would hasten 
my escape from the windy storm and tempest.” Yet this is 
but selfishness. Let me rather think of those who are dear 
to me, and be content to share with them in any trials it may 
please our heavenly Father to send. 

March the 9th. — My father brought with him to-day, to 
have dinner with us, a young gentleman, Paul Merula by 


i68 


Within Sea Walls, 


name, an advocate, whom some law business has brought to 
the city. He comes from Leyden, and is the person to whom 
my father commended his brother and dear Lysken. He has 
good news of them ; they reached Leyden in safety, and are 
well. He also says he will watch over them to the best of 
his power, though he himself has to walk a wary path, being 
one, of the Reformed. 

The gentleman stayed with us through the afternoon, and 
discoursed very freely on the present state of affairs. He 
disapproves of the violent measures taken by some of the 
Reformed for the redress of their grievances ; and herein my 
father agreed with him, although they both admitted that the 
course taken by the Regent is such as may well excuse those 
who put no further trust in princes. And hereupon followed 
some further discourse, which I shall not write down. But 
presently our visitor told us of a scene he himself had partly 
witnessed some twelve years since, when he was a boy. 

“ There was at Lisle,” said he, ‘‘ a certain man named 
Robert Oguier, a good man, who fell under the suspicion of 
having prohibited books in his possession, and was also known 
to be one of the Reformed. One night, therefore, the in- 
quisitors made diligent search through his house, and, finding 
what they sought, they apprehended not only the man, but 
also his wife and his two sons, Baldwin and Martin. On the 
following day, the prisoners were taken before the magistrate, 
and charged with neglecting to go to mass, and keeping un- 
lawful conventicles in the house, — which indeed was true, as 
the man himself owned. 

‘“I do not go to mass,’ he said, ‘ because the precious blood 
of Jesus Christ and His oblation of Himself is thereby ren- 
dered void and of none effect; for Christ did, by one only 
sacrifice, perfect for ever them that are sanctified. The 
apostle/ continued he, ‘ mentions only one oblation ; and we 


Some Extracts from NincCs JournaL 169 

read not of mass in the Holy Scriptures, but only of the 
Lord’s Supper, which is not a sacrifice, but a remembrance. 
The mass is but a human invention. 

“ ‘ I own likewise,’ said the accused, ‘ that I have kept 
assemblies, or meetings of good and godly people ; but such 
meetings were not prejudicial to the government by any 
means, but rather promoted the honour and glory of our 
Saviour. I know very well,’ he confessed, Hhat these meetings 
are forbidden ; but I know, at the same time, that Christ has 
commanded them, — so that if I obeyed my prince, I must 
disobey God. I will therefore rather obey the Lord than men.’ 

“ Auer making this noble confession, Oguier was asked by 
one of the magistrates, ‘ What do you in your meetings 

“And thereupon Baldwin, the elder son, answered : 

“ ‘ I will give your lordships a full account of this matter. 
When we are there come together in the name of the Lord, 
to hear His holy Word, we all fall down at once upon our 
knees to the ground, and confess humbly our sins. Then we 
all join in the same prayer, to wit, that God’s Word may be 
purely preached to us, and rightly understood by us. We 
also pray for our sovereign lord, the emperor, and for all his 
council, that the commonwealth may be governed with peace, 
and to the glory of God. And you, my lords, are not for- 
gotten by us ; we pray to the Lord for you, and for the whole 
city, and that He would support you in what is true and just. 
Can you therefore believe,’ continued he, ‘that our meeting 
together for these purposes is as criminal as has been repre- 
sented to you } And as a proof of what I have told you, 
I am ready now, if it pleaseth you, my lords, to recite these 
prayers before you.’ 

“ Some of the judges made a sign that he should do so ; 
whereupon he kneeled down before them, and poured forth 
his prayer with such a hearty zeal, fervency of spirit, and 


1^70 Within Sea Walls, 

vehement emotion, that it drew tears from the eyes of his 
judges. 

“Yet for all this the examination was continued, and pre- 
sently all the prisoners were, put to the rack, to compel them 
to confess who they were that frequented their meetings ; but 
they would name none on whom the fearful Inquisition could 
lay hands. So, four or five days afterwards, the father and 
the elder son were condemned to the fire.” 

And this is what our visitor saw : 

As they were being led away to the stake some of the 
monks would have persuaded the father to carry in his hand 
an image of Christ crucified, and they placed the crucifix in 
his hands; but the son snatched it away, crying, “Father, 
what is it you do ? Will you turn idolater at the point of 
death ? Let not the people be scandalized,” continued he, 
as he cast away the image, “ because we desire to worship no 
wocsden Christ. For we bear about Christ Jesus, the Son of 
the living God, in our hearts, and w'e have His holy Word 
written there in golden letters.” Then, mounting the scaffold, 
he begged leave to make a confession of his faith in the 
hearing of the people. But the answer they made him was, — 

“ There is your father confessor. If you have anything 
to confess, you may disclose it to him.” And then they drew 
him nearer to the stake. 

Presently, when the executioner was fastening the martyrs 
to the stake, he struck Robert, the father, on the foot with 
a heavy hammer. 

“My friend, why do you use me thus cruelly?” said the 
sufferer. A monk, hearing this, cried out, — 

“ Oh, these wretches ! They would be accounted martyrs ; 
and yet if they be handled a little roughly, they 'squall as if 
they were murdered.” 

To this the son replied thus : “ Do you think then that we 


m 


Some Extracts from Nincis JoumaL 

fear pain or death ? Had we feared these we should not have 
exposed our bodies to this shameful end.” Then he repeated 
several times, “ O God, the eternal Father, grant that this 
sacrifice of our bodies may be acceptable in Thy sight, for the 
sake of Thy well-beloved Son ! ” • 

Then one of the crowd called out with a loud voice, 
“Courage, Baldwin, be of good heart; your cause is a just 
one ; I am one of yours.” And after this, as our visitor told 
us, when the fire was lighted, the father and son were heard 
talking lovingly, and encouraging each other, even when the 
flames were at the highest, until they both expired. 

This was the story told by the young gentleman of what 
he himself had witnessed. He also told how that the mother 
and younger brother, some time after, were burnt in like 
manner for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 
Methinks when I hear of these things, how glorious it is to 
suffer thus, so that we may hereafter reign with Him. And 
I know not how it is, but the thought of that after glory takes 
away the horrors of these present torments ; — I mean in those 
who are called to bear them. 

March the I2th. — The whole city is in greater confusion 
than ever. Those who had been to the camp at Ostrawell 
report that there are many hundreds of men there prepared 
to do battle, only that there is no enemy within sight or 
hearing. They say also that those soldiers are among the dis- 
solutest they have ever seen, for drinking and dicing. I trust 
this is a false report ; for what have those who fight for 
conscience and religion to do with such things ? I said tliis 
to-day at the dinner-table ; and Aunt Philippa took me up 
sharply, bidding me not tie up conscience and religion in a 
leash with rebellion. My dear father said nothing, but he 
sighed very deeply. 


1/2 


Within Sea Walls, 


Afterwards he told me, when we were by ourselves, that 
what troubles him more than all these outward commotions, 
is that those in this city who ought to love each other as 
brothers in Christ are ready, like some in old times, to bite 
and devour one another. There have already been great 
tumults, in which the ancient strife seems to be revived, who 
shall be greatest — the Lutherans or the Calvinists ? But 
surely they forget the saying of the great Master, “ If any 
man desire to be first, the same shall be least of all, and 
servant of all.” 

March the 13th, early in the morning. The fighting is 
begun at Ostrawell. We were roused at day-break by the 
distant sound of musketry, and then the city was all astir. 
My father went out, and is not yet come home ; but Ursel, 
who has been abroad and has even now returned, tells me that 
the city walls are crowded, and there is a report that the rebels 
(as they are called) are fleeing fast from Count de Beauvoir 
and his troops, who took them by surprise. Hark ! there is 
my dear father just come in : I know his footsteps. I can 
write no more now. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

The Fight an4 Flight xif 0straweU. 

HE ex-monk, Guy Regis, threaded his way with 
caution through the darkness, towards the camp 
fires which burned at Ostrawell. And it was 
not without sufficient reason ; for, among other 
letters of minor importance, he bore, in the hol- 
low of his staff, despatches from the chief of the 
Gueux to the leader of the insurgent band ; and 
little would the white cowl he still wore have pro- 
tected him had he fallen into the hands of any of 
the Regent’s forces. He passed on uninterrupt- 
edly, however, until, reaching one of the outposts 
of the camp, he gave himself up to the guard, and 
demanded to be led to the leader’s tent. 

The countenance of young Marnix flushed 
with enthusiasm as he read the communication 
of Count Brederode, which informed him that ere 
long he should take the field with six thousand soldiers, and that 
the two leaders, having united their troops, could march on 
to Valenciennes and dictate peace on their own terms. 

“ You bring me good tidings,” said the youthful commander 
to the messenger, “ and that in spite of your monkish attire.” 





Within Sea Walls, 


“ I trust they may prove so,” returned Guy ; ** at any rate, 
it is certain that Count Brederode has met with great success 
in Holland ; and if you can but hold out against the enemy 
until such time as he marches hither, much may be hoped for.” 

“ I see not why we should not hold out,” returned the 
inexperienced soldier ; “ we are well entrenched. We have 
already three thousand in our camp, and numbers are daily 
flocking to us ; meanwhile, our enemies are keeping at a 
prudent distance.” 

“There are rumours, nevertheless, that an attack is planned. 
The monkish attire which you ridicule has been of this good 
service to me, that it has shielded me from suspicion on the 
road, and it has helped me to the knowledge that De Beauvoir 
is not far off. And where he is, mischief is at his right hand.” 

“ We can meet it,” said Marnix, composedly ; “ but,” added 
he, smiling good-humouredly, “if your information amounts 
only to this, that where there is warfare there is also a risk 
of having to fight, it amounts but to little. And if Philip 
Launoy makes his appearance — of which there has yet been 
no sign — he will find us prepared to receive him.” 

The messenger bowed ; and being presently dismissed from 
the tent, he walked slowly through the encampment, pensive 
and sad as he gazed upon the groups of doomed men (as 
he might well have deemed them to be) who clustered round 
the watch-fires in careless false security, some already stretched 
in heavy sleep, others engaged in gambling. Indeed, the 
preacher heard and saw enough to prove that, however sincere in 
his religious faith the young leader might be, he was surrounded 
partly by reprobates, who had no religion, and partly by others 
who, in the enthusiasm of the stirring times, had taken up 
arms for what they believed to be the right, b,ut were destitute 
of all soldierly qualifications.^ 

^ “ The troops of Marnix,” says the historian, “were new levies, vagabonds, 
and outlaws.” 


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177 


The Fight and Flight of O straw ell. 

Again and again did Guy Regis address himself to one 
party after another of these would-be soldiers, urging upon 
them the duties of self-examination and preparation for death 
and judgment. But he spoke to unwilling hearers. Some of 
them mocked him ; by others he was denounced and abused 
as a spy who had crept into their camp under false 
pretences, or reviled for his monkish habit ; by all he was 
requested to carry his croakings elsewhere, and rid them of his 
undesired company. So at length he withdrew, sick at heart, 
and, wearied with his journey, sought a retired nook within 
the entrenchment, where he might pour out his soul before 
God, and then snatch a few hours of uneasy repose. 

While the camp of Marnix of Thoulouse was revelling in 
fancied safety, another scene presented itself at the not far 
distant abbey of St. Bernard. Through the night, small 
parties of soldiers, to the number of about eight hundred, 
armed only with swords and daggers, were silently gathering 
together within its walls. Here, their helmets, bucklers, 
arquebusses, corselets, spears, standards and drums were given 
to them ; and they were supplied with refreshments. At 
break of day they were joined by their leader, Philip de 
Launoy, Seigneur de Beauvoir, who made them a brief speech, 
instructing them, among other things, that they were “to 
advance with furled banners and without beat of drum till 
within sight of the enemy. 

“ The troops started. . . . After a short march they were in 
‘full sight of Ostrawell. Then they displayed their flags, and 
advanced upon the fort with loud shoutings. Thoulouse was 
as much taken by surprise ' as though they had suddenly 
emerged from the bowels of the earth. He had been informed 
that the government was in extreme trepidation ; and when 
he first heard the advancing trumpets and sudden shouts, 
he thought that a detachment of Brederode’s promised force 

N 


Within Sea Walls, 


178 

was already arrived. The cross on the banners soon un- 
deceived him ; nevertheless, like a brave and generous young 
gentleman as he was, he lost no time in drawing up his men 
for action,* imploring them to defend their breastworks, which 
were impregnable against so small a force, and instructed 
them to wait patiently with their fire till the enemy were 
near enough to be marked. 

‘ These orders were disobeyed. The youthful commander 
had no power to infuse his own spirit into his rabble rout 
of followers, who were already panic-struck by the unexpected 
appearance of the enemy,” — and the large majority of whom 
had no religious enthusiasm to sustain them. On the other 
hand, “ the Catholics came on with the coolness of veterans, 
taking as deliberate aim as if it had been they, not their 
enemies, who were behind breastworks. The troops of 
Thoulouse fired wildly, precipitately, quite over the heads 
of the assailants. Many of the defenders were slain as fast 
as they showed themselves above their bulwarks. The ditch 
was crossed, the breastwork was carried at a single determined 
charge. The rebels made little resistance, but fled as soon 
as the enemy entered their fort. It was a hunt, not a battle. 
Hundreds were stretched dead in the camp, hundreds were 
driven into the Scheldt ; six or eight hundred took refuge 
in a farmhouse ; but De Beauvoir’s men set fire to the build- 
ing, and every rebel who had entered it was burned alive or 
shot. No quarter was given ; and hardly a man of the three 
thousand who had held the fort escaped. The body of 
Thoulouse, their leader, was cut into a hundred pieces.” 

Such is the account given by the chronicler ; and it presents 
to us a dark and gloomy picture of the times of which it 
tells. Persecution had driven even wise and good men mad, 
inciting them to take unhallowed means for deliverance from 
the intolerable yoke laid upon them. They appealed to the 


179 


The Fight and Flight of OstrawelL 

sword; and, in numberless instances, they perished by the 
sword. Worse than this was it that in thus striving to regain 
the liberties of which they had been deprived, or those which 
are every man’s birthright, they often acted as though they 
believed that the end justified the means. It would have 
been sad enough had those who fell laid down their lives for 
the gospel, and been prepared to render up their account ; 
but the greater number of them were not prepared ; and there 
can be no doubt that a variety of inferior motives had led 
them to provoke the cruel vengeance from which they suffered. 

In blaming the leaders of this insurrection, however, it 
should be borne in mind that treachery and falsehood of 
the darkest dye had been combined with persecution against 
the Reformed Church ; that peaceable means had been sought 
for redress, and sought in vain ; and that the spirit of the 
times led men to appeal to force with fiery impatience. And 
although this premature and ill-considered resistance to des- 
potic tyranny failed, and brought destruction upon those who 
thus used the carnal weapons of warfare, it doubtless resulted 
in infusing into the minds of the persecuted people a stronger 
attachment to the gospel on behalf of which they suffered, 
and eventually assisted in bringing about the overthrow of 
that superstition which had laid its heavy yoke on all the 
faithful of the land. Meanwhile we may be sure that He 
who sitteth in the heavens was holding in derision the wretched 
tools of a foreign persecutor, was preparing to speak unto 
them in His wrath, and to vex them with His sore displea- 
sure; and well knew when and how to make the wrath of 
man to praise Him, while the remainder of it He restrained. 
This, however, was yet in the future ; and awaiting the events 
which brought about the emancipation of the Protestant 
Church in that country, we have yet to trace the immediate 
consequences of the fight and flight of Ostrawell. 



CHAPTER XXIII, 

Itntwfirp in March, 1$67. historical, 

IE perturbation of Nina Franck, as shown by 
the closing paragraph in her journal, was not 
without sufficient cause. The drama just de- 
picted “ had been enacted in full sight of 
Antwerp. The fight had lasted from day-break 
till ten o’clock in the forenoon, during the 
whole of which period the city ramparts, looking 
towards Ostrawell, the roofs of houses, the 
towers of churches, had been swarming with 
eager spectators. The sound of drum and 
trumpet, the rattle of musketry, the shouts of 
victory, the despairing cries of the vanquished, 
were heard by thousands who deeply sym- 
pathised with the rebels thus enduring so 
sanguinary a chastisement. In Antwerp there 
were forty thousand people opposed to the 
Church of Rome. Of this number the greater proportion were 
Calvinists, and of these Calvinists there were thousands look- 
ing down from the battlements upon the disastrous fight.” 

The excitement soon became uncontrollable. According to 
the histori.Tn Moth'^’- narr^^iv*?' ''re 



Antwerp in March^ IS 67. i8l 

indebted, — vast numbers “came pouring towards the Red 
Gate ; which afforded the readiest egress to the scene of 
action.” They came from every street and alley of the city. 
Some were armed with lance, pike, or arquebus ; some bore 
sledge-hammers ; others had the partisans, battle-axes, and 
huge two-handed swords of the previous century ; all weiv 
determined upon issuing forth to the rescue of their friendi^ fp 
the fields outside the town. The wife of Thoulouse, not yet 
aware of her husband’s death, although his defeat was obvious, 
flew from street to street, calling upon the Calvinists to save 
or to avenge their perishing brethren. 

“A terrible tumult prevailed. Ten thousand men were 
already up and in arms. It was then that the Prince of 
Orange, who was sometimes described by his enemies as timid 
and pusillanimous by nature,” showed the true spirit of a 
Christian hero. “ His sense of duty no longer bade him defend 
the crown of Philip — which thenceforth was to be intrusted to 
the hirelings of the Inquisition ; — but the vast population of 
Antwerp, the women and children, and the enormous wealth 
of the richest city in the world, had been confided to his care, 
and he had accepted the responsibility. Mounting his horse, 
he made his appearance instantly at the Red Gate, before as 
formidable a mob as man had ever faced. He came there 
almost alone, without guards, and was received with howls of 
execration. A thousand hoarse voices called him the pope's 
servant, minister of antichrist, and lavished upon him many 
more epithets of the same nature. His life was in imminent 
danger. A furious clothier levelled an arquebus full at his 
breast ; but the loaded weapon was struck away by another 
hand in the crowd, while the prince, nothing daunted by the 
ferocious demonstrations against his life, nor enraged by the 
virulent abuse to which he was subjected, continued tranquilly, 
earnestly, imperatively, to address the crowd. . . . After he 


f82 


Within Sea Walls. 


had gained the ear of the multitude, the prince urged .that the 
battle was now over, that the Reformers were entirely dis- 
persed, the enemy retiring, and that a disorderly and ill-armed 
mob would be unable to retrieve the fortunes of the day. 
Many were thus persuaded to abandon the design. Five 
hundred of the most violent, however, insisted upon leaving, 
the gates ; and the governor, distinctly warning these zealot 
tnat their blood must be upon their own head.s, reluctantly 
permitted that number to issue from the city. The rest, not 
appeased, but uncertain, and disposed to take vengeance upon 
the Catholics within the walls for the disaster which ha<.- 
occurred without, thronged tumultuously to the long wied 
street, called the Mere, situate in the very heart of the city. 

“ Meantime, the ardour of those who had sallied from the 
gate grew sensibly cooler, when they found themselves in the 
open fields. De Beauvoir, whose men, after the victory, had 
scattered in pursuit of the fugitives, now heard the tumult in 
the city. Suspecting an attack, he rallied his compact little 
army again for a fresh encounter.” And now was enacted 
one of those scenes of sickening cruelty which too often attend 
active warfare, and are sometimes spoken of as being un- 
fortunately necessary. There were three -hundred of the 
unhappy followers of Thoulouse — the remnant of the gathering 
at Ostrawell — who had been taken captive and spared for 
ransom, thinking themselves happy in having escaped the 
morning slaughter. But on the fresh alarm given by the 
tumult in the city, and the appearance of the band of five 
hundred now issuing from the gate, the victorious general 
commanded that all the captives should be killed. The order 
was too consonant with the savage nature of his soldiery, and 
the principles of persecution with which habit had rendered 
them familiar, to be disputed, or for the execution of it to be 
for a moment delayed. Volley after volley of bullets was 


Antwerp in Marchy 1567. 183 

poured in upon the miserable prisoners until their shrieks and 
groans were hushed for ever in death. Then the perpetrators 
of this outrage marched towards Antwerp, with drums beating 
and colours flying in triumph, driving before them the small 
band of armed citizens who had ventured beyond the walls, 
but whose courage now forsook them, and whom prudence 
loudly called to make good their retreat. Their pursuer 
followed them to the city moat, on the margin of which he 
planted, in bitter scorn, the banners of the unhappy Marnix 
of Thoulouse, and sounded a trumpet tone of defiance ; but 
finding that the citizens were not disposed to respond to the 
challenge, and having no warrant to attack the city, he 
removed his trophies and departed. 

“On the other hand,” writes Mr. Motley, “the tumult 
within the walls had again increased. The Calvinists had 
been collecting in great numbers upon the Mere. This large 
and splendid thoroughfare communicated by various cross 
streets with the Exchange, and with many other public 
edifices. By an early hour in the afternoon twelve or fifteen 
thousand armed and fighting men had assembled upon the 
place. They had barricaded the whole pr.ecinct with paving- 
stones and upturned wagons. They had already broken into 
the arsenal, and obtained many field-pieces, which were 
planted at the entrance of every street and by-way. They 
had stormed the city jail, and liberated the prisoners, all of 
whom, grateful and ferocious, came to swell the numbers who 
defended the stronghold on the Mere. . . . The alarm through- 
out the city was indescribable. The cries of women and 
children, as they remained in trembling expectation of what 
the next hour might bring forth, were (said one who heard 
them) enough to soften the hardest hearts. 

“Nevertheless, the diligence and courage of the Prince ot 
Orange kept pace with the insurrection. He had caused the 


Within Sea Walls, 


.184 

eight companies of guards enrolled in September to be 
mustered upon the square in front of the city hall, for the 
protection of that building and of the magistracy. He had 
summoned the senate of the city, the board of ancients, the 
deans of guilds, the ward masters, to consult with him at the 
council-board. At the peril of his life he had again gone 
before the angry mob in the Mere, advancing against their 
cannon and their outcries, and compelling them to appoint 
eight deputies to treat with him and the magistrates at the 
town hall. This done, he had, quickly but deliberately, drawn 
up six articles to which those deputies gave their assent, and 
in which the city government cordially united. These articles 
provided that the keys of the city should remain in the 
possession of the prince, that the watch should be held by 
burghers and soldiers together, that the magistrates should 
permit the entrance of no garrison, and that the citizens 
should be entrusted with the care of the city charters.” 

This arrangement, however, failed to give satisfaction. 
Antwerp was, in fact, in the condition of “ a house divided 
against itself.” The Calvinists, who, to the number of fifteen 
thousand, were encamped on the Mere, fearing treachery on 
the part of their brethren, the Lutherans, demanded possession 
of the keys of the city. “ They did not cho'pse,” they said, 
“to be locked up at the mercy of any man;” and they 
threatened to demolish the city hall unless the keys were 
delivered into their hands. They also claimed that burghers, 
without distinction of religion, instead of mercenary troops, 
should be allowed to guard the market-place in front of the 
town hall. 

“ It was now nightfall, and no definite arrangements had 
been concluded. Nevertheless, a temporary truce was made, 
by means of a concession as to the guard. It was agreed 
that the burghers. Calvinists and Lutherans, as well as 


Antwerp in Marc/t, 1857. 185 

Catholics, should be employed to protect the city. By 
subtlety, however, the Calvinists detailed for that service 
were posted, not in the town house square, but on the 
ramparts and at the gates.” 

Having thus far, for the sake of necessary connection and 
clearness, followed the chronicler, we turn to the personal 
narrative embodied in Nina Franck’s journal from the point 
to which this history has brought us. 




CHAPTER XXIV. 

ExtraxJts fmm Wxxin^s 

ARCH the 14th. — We are yet safe. It is of the 
Lord’s mercies. Let this be my Scripture 
portion for to-day : — “ It is of the Lord’s 
mercies that we are not consumed.” 

It was late last evening when my dear father 
hastily returned from the council-chamber, to 
which he had been called; and with him was 
the young lawyer of Leyden, who has been 
prevented by these tumults from returning to 
his home. With them was the once monk, who 
some time past was brought to us by pastor 
Junius, and who, as we afterwards heard, bore 
himself so bravely at the Augustine monastery. 
The poor man was yet in his monk’s habit, 
and was ghastly pale and faint, both from 
loss of blood and want of sustenance, as I 
afterwards learned. 

“I must again away,” said my dear father, hurriedly, to 
Aunt Philippa; “but this young gentleman has undertaken 
your defence, as far as human protection can avail.” 

Aunt Philippa made a low obeisance ; but she looked 



Further Extracts from Ninels Journal. 187 

angrily, methought ; and after a moment’s space she asked if 
the elderly person in the white cowl was also to be added to 
the number of our slender garrison. 

** I epmmend Guy Regis to your careful nurture,” said my 
father, in that quiet manner which he has when he is deter- 
mined to be obeyed ; and Aunt Philippa making no reply, 
my father, in few words, informed us that the Protestant 
preacher, as he now is, in spite of his frock and cowl, was 
among those who had been taken prisoner, after having been 
wounded in the late battle of Ostrawell ; but that he had 
escaped from the hands of his captors, partly owing to his 
monkish garments, and had found his way into the city. My 
dear father then tenderly embraced us all, and speedily took 
his departure, having to share in the fatigue and danger of 
the night watch. 

There was little sleep for any of us, for who could retire to 
rest with the dreadful expectation that any moment might 
bring upon us an attack from one or other of the furious 
bands of armed men whom persecution has so driven mad 
that even those who are brothers in one common faith, 
excepting some slight differences in relation to man-made 
creeds, were, and even now are, ready to destroy each other’s 
lives ! 

We were all gathered together in our dining-hall, — the 
house being barricaded as strongly as could be, — and our first 
care was for the poor wounded and fainting preacher, who 
had sunk on to a couch, and seemed insensible of his con- 
dition. I am glad to write down here, that Aunt Philippa 
compassionated the poor man, and, notwithstanding all our 
terrors, busied herself in helping to bind up his wound, which 
had been left untended, and in providing him with some 
immediate sustenance. Then he was led to an inner chamber, 
and placed upon a bed. 


i88 


Within Sea Walls* 


The young gentleman whom dear father had left as a guard 
did excellent service in keeping up our poor failing courage. 
From time to time he went the round of the house with the 
two men-servants, examining the defences, and then returned 
to us, reporting that all was safe. It seemed hard to believe 
this ; for the air resounded with the trampling of feet as the 
armed bands marched to and fro ; the hoarse cries of hundreds 
of voices, as in fierce contention, and such watchwords as 
“Down with the Papists!” “Long live the Beggars!” It 
was dreadful to hear all this ; but, by God’s mercy, no out- 
break was permitted to happen ; and, soon after dawn of day, 
our father returned with the news that, thus far, all was well, 
and desired us to seek some rest in sleep, — after first com- 
pelling us to take a meal, for which truly we had but little 
appetite. But he himself set us the example ; and would 
have remained longer with us but that his presence was even 
then required in the council-chamber. 

It is now three hours past noon, and our dear father is still 
absent. Shut up as we are, we know little of what has been 
done to-day, or what may even now be taking place. We 
hear only a confused tumult without, like the noise of rushing 
water when a dam is broken down. And this again reminds 
me of that sweet assurance given to us in one of David’s 
psalms — “The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of 
many waters ; yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.” 

Our guest, the young burgher of Leyden, went out two 
hours since, to bring to us intelligence of what is going forward 
in the city, and has not yet come back. He seems to be a 
godly youth, and full of high courage. I pray our dear Lord 
to have him in .safe keeping ! 

Our other guest, the escaped preacher, having been re- 


Further Extracts from Ninds Journal, 189 

freshed by sleep and food, though still exceedingly weak, has 
risen from his couch and been among us, speaking to us, and 
encouraging us to put our trust in God, and to hold fast our 
love to the holy gospel. His zeal is not over-pleasing to 
Aunt Philippa, who left the room when he proposed to us to 
kneel down in prayer, which we did, Ursel counting her beads 
the while, to put out of her head the heretic words he uttered, 
as she just now told me. Alas ! surely that is come upon us 
which is spoken of in the gospel, when households are divided 
within themselves. Poor Ursel has more faith, I fear, in dead 
saints, than in the living God. 

# # * ♦ # 

I had written so far when Master Paul Merula returned. 
He has little to say to encourage us, save that our dear father 
is safe, and in council together with the other deputies and 
the guild officers, who, with our good prince, are busy in 
framing a new treaty of peace. But there are grave doubts 
whether this will be accepted by those who are now up in 
arms. He tells us that the strange enmity which has latterly 
sprung up between the Calvinists and Lutherans is as fierce 
as that between those two great branches of the Reformed 
religion and the Catholics: and that the Calvinists— those 
encamped on the Mere— fiercely and loudly express their 
determination to have their own way. They threaten to 
plunder the monasteries, and the houses of all the wealthy 
Catholics, and to drive every Papist out of the town ; and 
they are summoning the Lutherans to join them, on peril of 
their sharing the same fate. 

“ This is all very shocking,” I said, when the young gentle- 
man had given us this information. 

“ What better is to be expected, when people forsake the 
true religion.?'” demanded A ant Philippa. 


190 


Within Sea Walls, 


“ Is it not rather that persecution has made even wise men 
mad?” said the young lawyer, gently. “But indeed,” he 
added, “although these threats proceed from their camp, it 
is well known that the Calvinists have been largely reinforced 
not only by numbers of the Gueux, but by all sorts of male- 
factors and robbers, whose only object is rapine, and who 
coerce the more moderate and religious to do as they will. 
Thus the sacred name of religion is profaned : and the cause 
of free liberty of conscience is defiled.” 

I was glad to hear the young advocate speak thus boldly. 
And I am sure that my dear father — Calvinist though he be 
— would be among the first to condemn these mad doings. 
I would he were with us now! 

My father is even now returned, released for a few hours 
from his duties. He has had no sleep for forty hours — dear 
father ! — and for many nights before that his repose was so 
broken by anxious alarms that he sadly needs rest. It seems, 
therefore, quite providential that we have a substitute for him 
in the young gentleman from Leyden, who has undertaken 
the charge of our little garrison through the coming night. 
Nay, but let me remember that “ except the Lord build the 
house, their labour is but lost that build it ; and except the 
Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.” 
***** 

March the i8th. — It is four days since the last line in my 
journal was written ; and now let me take for my text to-day 
these words : — “ If the Lord Himself had not been on our 
side, when men rose up against us, they had swallowed 
us up quick, when they were so wrathfully displeased at us. 
Yea, the waters had drowned us, and the stream had gone 
over our soul. The deep waters of the proud had gone even 


Further Extracts from Nina*s JournaL 19 1 

over our soul. But praised be the Lord, who hath not given 
us over for a prey unto their teeth.” 

It was on the evening of the fourteenth that my dear father 
returned exhausted from his labours and dangers in the town ; 
he slept very soundly until morning ; and we passed through 
the night without further alarm, only that the confusion in 
the street seemed even greater than on the night before. We 
learned afterwards that this was caused by the gathering 
together of the Lutherans, who, to the number of three or four 
thousand, had taken arms in the middle of the night, and 
marched to the river-side, near St. Michael’s Cloister, where 
they*encamped. With them also were numbers of Catholics, 
who were willing, at a time of common danger, to unite with 
tiiose whom, at other times, they despised and persecuted. 
This was brought about (so my father says) by the skill and 
jiuigment of the prince, our burgrave, who also sent for the 
deans of all the foreign guilds in Antwerp, — English, Italian, 
Spanish, Portuguese, and others, — engaging their assistance 
for the protection of the city, commanding them to remain in 
their armour at their several factories, ready to be out at a 
moment’s warning. My father says but for these wise pre- 
cautions, he thinks the city would have been given over to 
the fury of those who would have shown no mercy to any, and 
who, under pretence of religion, were ready at that time for 
the most murderous deeds. Praised be the Lord, who hath 
not given us over as a prey to their teeth ! Verily our soul 
is escaped, even as a bird out of the snare of the fowler! 

My father also reports that the courage and forethought, and 
also the temper of the noble prince has, throughout these 
troubles, been above all praise. It seems, indeed, as though 
the Lord had raised him up as an instrument for the pre- 
servation of the lives of thousands within this city, who 
otherwise would have been doomed to destruction. 


Within Sea Walls, 


192 

It was early on the morning of the fifteenth, that my father 
and his young guest left the house, leaving to our care the 
preacher, Guy Regis, who is still weak from the effect of his 
wounds. It seems strange to see how much attention Aunt 
Philippa pays to this poor man ; and yet how strongly she 
dislikes him because of his heresy, as she calls his religion. 
She wishes that he had never come near us ; and yet she 
will always be in his company, and will permit no one to 
attend him but herself. I think she is drawn towards him 
to hear his words, and that then she despises herself for 
having listened to what she would call his pestilent doctrines. 

Late in the day, our dear father and our Leyden guest 
returned. The first words we heard from them were, 
“ Antwerp is saved !” And then dear father called all his 
household together to give thanks to God for the great mercy 
shown to the city. 

I will write down the particulars of that day, as I have 
heard them from my father and Paul, as I have learnt to call 
the young lawyer. 

They say that On the morning of that day, when they went 
out, the city presented a sad and fearful sight. Counting- 
houses and shops were all closed in every street, and only 
armed men were to be seen hurrying to and fro. There were 
three armies encamped at different points within the city 
walls ; — the Calvinists on the Mere ; the Lutherans at St. 
Michael’s, and the Catholics, with the regular city guard, on 
the great square. These three parties numbered in all nearly 
forty thousand men, all eager to rush upon each other, and only 
restrained by the firmness and courage and wisdom of Prince 
William, who knew what would be the consequences of a 
battle pent up within the city walls, and foresaw that, if one 
blow was stricken, desolation would be brought to every 
hearth and home. 


Further Extracts from Nina's JournaL 193 

So forcibly did the good princely burgrave represent this 
danger to the leaders of the Lutheran party, that they — being 
among the more wealthy of the citizens — readily agreed with 
him, and early in the morning the troops, both Lutheran and 
Catholic, were called together to hear read the articles of peace 
which had been prepared the day before. It seemed, said my 
father, as though God had, in His mercy, prepared their hearts 
to receive these proposals with favour ; for no sooner were 
they read than hearty shouts of approbation rent the air, at 
the hearing of which the prince gave God thanks. But still 
the Calvinist party, and those who had joined themselves to 
it, — being the released prisoners from the city gaols, and all 
kinds of malefactors and outlaws, such as abound in all large 
cities, — these, numbering altogether some fifteen thousand 
fighting men, had yet to be dealt with ; and many doubted 
whether they would accede to the articles of peace. Neverthe- 
less, the prince, attended by the heads of the guilds, and about 
a hundred mounted troopers, all wearing red scarves over their 
armour, rode boldly into the camp on the Mere, and caused 
the articles to be read in the hearing of the fierce and dis- 
orderly moD, whose threatening looks and gestures and words 
gave little promise of success. The courage of the noble 
prince, however, did not fail him ; and after the reading of the 
articles,- he addressed the people with a loud voice, warning 
them that a struggle on their part would be hopeless, and 
pointing out that the arrangements just offered to them gave 
to all religious parties the right of worship according to the 
dictates of their consciences, also that a foreign garrison 
was not to be admitted into Antwerp, and that all else that 
could reasonably be expected or hoped for from force was 
already engaged to them. 

These arguments, said my father, who was there, seemed to 
have weight with the more reasonable of the insurgents ; and 

o 


Within Sea Walls, 


194 

the prince finished his address by asking all present to testify 
their acceptance of the terms he offered, by repeating after 
him the words he was about to utter. These words were : 
“ Long live the king ! ” And it was a noble thing, my father 
says, that he who had been so persecuted and otherwise ill 
treated by the king whom he had so faithfully served, and by 
the whole court, should still expose his life to danger, for his 
ungrateful master, and thus show the loyalty which dwelt in 
his heart. 

It may be that others thought so too ; for, as my father 
tells us, the utterance of these words had, a wonderful effect 
on the crowd of Calvinists and others, who, after one moment s 
hesitation, followed his example, and raised a loud and joyful 
shout, as with one voice, crying, “Long live the king!” 

Then they threw down their arms, and all the citizens, 
of whatever religion, embraced each other. Then, after the 
articles of peace had been signed by all the leaders of the 
several armies, the people restored their arms to the arsenals, 
and quietly dispersed : and it has been ascertained that 
although more than forty thousand armed men had, for three 
days, had the city at their mercy, yet that not a single person 
was, during all that time, injured either in body or estate ; 
and now all the city is peaceable and quiet. Surely this is 
the Lord’s doing ! 




CHAPTER XXV. 

Iftnd^r the hinden Tree. 

N a bright and balmy spring afternoon, a month 
or more after the quieting of Antwerp, Nina 
* Franck was resting on her favourite bench under 
a linden tree, on the terrace of her father’s 
garden. She was not alone, for old Ursel, as of 
yore, was still in attendance on the weakly girl, 
and had taken her seat a few paces off, ready to 
wait upon her nursling when needful, and mean- 
time employing herself in the preparation of a 
coif for her own wearing. Ursel was in good 
spirits ; for only that day the old stork and his 
mate had returned from their annual migr'^tion, 
and had taken possession of their home amidst 
the gables of the family mansion. 

Ursel, however, was not the only sharer of 
Nina’s quiet retreat. Seated still nearer to her was the young 
advocate from Leyden, Paul Merula, whose business still 
detained him in Antwerp, and who was ever a welcome guest 
at the burgher’s hospitable house. He had that day transacted 
his affairs in the law courts earlier than usual, and had taken 
his way to his friend’s house, where, finding that all the family 



Within Sea Walls, 


196 

excepting Aunt Philippa and Nina were abroad, he had 
adventured himself into the pleasant, though formal, Dutch 
garden, to have a chat with the contented little invalid. For 
next to Margaret Franck, the young gentleman liked to be in 
the company of her gentle-minded invalid younger sister; 
while he rather avoided than courted a tete-a-tete with the 
high-tempered though courtly dame, whose feelings were so 
strong against all who had embraced the Reformed religion. 

Some changes had taken place since we last left Paul Merula 
in the society of his Antwerp friends as one of their guards. 
The distractions of the city had for a time ceased, and many 
of those who had been in arms against each other in their 
mistaken zeal had seen this folly, and had become friends 
again. Some license of free worship had been once more 
given both to the Calvinists and the Lutherans ; and the 
Catholics, who were greatly outnumbered in Antwerp by those 
of the two branches of the Protestant faith, were only too 
happy at having escaped, with the skin of their teeth, as it 
were, from the exasperated vengeance of their persecuted 
fellow-citizens. Nevertheless it was feared by many that this 
season of repose would be of but short continuance ; for it 
was very well known that the Regent had strongly disapproved 
of the articles of peace by which the wise and moderate bur- 
grave had saved Antwerp from destruction, and that the 
breach between herself and the Prince of Orange was wider 
than ever. Also, past experience had taught the people that 
the most binding obligations might be set at nought without 
scruple, if they stood in the way of the violent and persecuting 
rulers of the unhappy land. No wonder, therefore, that the 
joy of Antwerp was moderated by reasonable doubts and 
fears. 

The household of Floris Franck had lost its wounded guest, 
Guy Regis, who even before his strength had fully returned 


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Under the Linden Tree. 199 

expressed his anxious desire to be about his Lord’s work, to 
which he had been called. 

“ My time is but short,” he said, in answer to the remon- 
strances of his host, “ and the night draweth on in which no 
man can work. Let me therefore, like my beloved Master, 
work while it is day, even in season and out of season. Long, 
long did I, in ignorance and blindness and pride, set myself 
against Him, when I thought I was doing Him service; and 
I must now, as much as in me lies, and God helping me, 
preach the faith which once I would have destroyed.” 

So he was allowed to go, after being well provided for by 
his generous host ; but whither he was gone was not known 
at that time. 

Nor had his sojourn under the roof of Floris Franck been 
without some advantage to the cause he had so much at heart ; 
for the burning zeal which consumed, as it were, the oil of his 
mortal life, or exhausted its springs, had manifested itself in 
efforts for the spiritual welfare of all within its reach. Under 
his searching words Agnes had seemed to forget those worldly 
fashions and distinctions to which, in spite of her better prin- 
ciples, she had previously clung with a too fond reluctance 
to let them go ; and Margaret’s spirit of contradiction and 
argument had been tamed down to a soft and generous com- 
passion for those on whom the true gospel light of the 
Reformation had not yet shined. These changes gave great 
contentment to their father, who desired rather that his 
daughters should exhibit in their lives the meekness of wisdom 
than the skilfulness of disputation. 

Nor did the benefits of the gospel preacher’s exhortations 
end here; for both Nina’s and her father’s faith had been 
strengthened by witnessing the fervour of his zeal, as well as 
by the ease with which he had torn to pieces the webs of 
sophistry woven by the Romish Church, from which, indeed. 


200 


Within Sea Walls, 


they had escaped, but which yet sometimes confused their 
minds. Moreover, the copy of the Holy Scriptures which the 
burgher so sedulously concealed, and had been only at times 
brought forward for the edification of his family, and then with 
much natural fear lest their possession of such a treasure 
should become known, and bring grief to them, — these 
Scriptures had been by Guy Regis daily studied, and read 
aloud and boldly to the assembled household. 

The strangest effect, however, which accompanied the short 
residence of the ex-monk in the family of the merchant was 
that produced on the matron who presided over its domestic 
affairs. It seemed, indeed, as though Aunt Philippa were 
actuated by two conflicting sets of feeling, one of strong and 
bitter repugnance against the doctrines which he promulgated, 
and the other of some secret attraction towards them. So 
have we sometimes seen how a needle imbued with the mys- 
terious influence of one pole of a magnet, will be driven away 
if approached by the opposite pole, and yet, when steadily 
pursued, will at length be drawn towards it, and fix itself 
upon it, as it were contrary to its own will. It was even thus 
with Mistress Philippa, and none could tell whether she were 
■glad or sorry when Guy Regis tucked up his frock and girded 
himself for his departure. 

From this needful digression and these explanaftions we 
return to the little group on the terrace, where the young 
advocate was rehearsing to the patient and deeply interested 
girl many of the brave and courageous acts of their fellow- 
countrymen and women who had borne their testimony to 
the faith of Christ, and had suffered cruel martyrdom rather 
than deny their Lord and Master. Among other histories, 
he gave the following account of an escape from the very 
jaws and fangs of persecution : 

“There dwelt in Valenciennes,” said he, “two godly minis- 


Under the Linden Tree, 


201 


ters of the gospel, who had made themselves hateful to the 
persecuting CardinaP by their faithfulness, and what he 
called their heresies, so he determined on their destruction. 
Their names were Faveau and Mallert. They were not deeply 
learned ; but they were warm-hearted followers of the Lord, 
and much comforted their little flocks by reading the Scrip- 
tures and exhortation. And this, in our unhappy land, is 
condemnation enough. 

“Nevertheless, other causes of accusation were invented. 
They were accused of pretending to cast out devils, and to 
work other miracles ; and on these charges they were first appre- 
hended and cast into prison, though it was well known that 
their only offence was that of reading the Bible. This was 
enough, and the two good men were condemned to the flames. 

“The magistrates, however, were afraid to carry out the 
sentence, on account of the popularity of the two ministers ; 
and it was not until peremptory orders reached them from 
the Cardinal to proceed forthwith with the execution that 
they felt themselves compelled to obey.” 

“ I would never have obeyed,” said Nina, indignantly. 

“I do not think you would,” replied Paul, smiling; “but 
the magistrates were men-pleasers, desiring to stand well 
with both parties, but fearing to offend the more powerful. 
So, after an imprisonment of six months, the preachers were 
told that they must prepare for death. On the following day 
they were taken from prison, and conveyed to the market- 
place, where preparations had already been made for their 
burning. 

“ But these same preparations had warned the people of 
Valenciennes of what was to take place, and gave them time 
to form their plans. Thus, when these two good men had 
arrived at the place of execution, and the executioner was 
^ Granvelle. 


202 


Within Sea Walls. 


binding one of them to the stake, a woman in the crowd took 
off lier shoe and threw it on the funeral pile.” 

“ Methinks the shoe must have been an old one, or the 
vrouw was but an unthrifty housewife ; for what help could 
even an old shoe give to the burning said Ursel, whose 
familiarity with her young mistress gave her license to in- 
terpose a remark, and who was shocked at the waste of so 
indispensable an article of clothing. 

“Nay, you do not understand,” said the young lawyer. 
“The shoe was not to help the burning, but to hinder it. It 
was a signal which had before been agreed upon ; and no 
sooner was the shoe seen hurtling through the air than a 
sudden movement took place in the crowd. Men in great 
numbers dashed upon the barriers which had been erected 
around the place of execution. Some seized the fagots, which 
had been already lighted, and scattered them in every direc- 
tion ; some tore up the pavements ; others broke in pieces 
the barriers. Never before, surely, did a shoe, either new or 
old, produce such a commotion.” 

“ Did the poor doomed men escape ?” asked Nina, with 
much emotion. 

“ The execution was of necessity delayed,” continued the 
narrator ; “ but the guard so far kept off their assailants, that 
they carried away the two ministers, and placed them in the 
prison again, so that it seemed but a respite of their sentence. 
But the people were not to be baulked thus of their success. 
Evening came, and then a vast throng, chanting one of the 
psalms of David, advanced steadily to the prison. In one 
short hour the gates were forced, and the prisoners were 
rescued, and conveyed in safety from their persecutors.” 

“ I am glad of it, with all my heart,” said the excited listener. 
“Did this happen long since?” 

“ About five years ago ; and even now the day of the year 


Under the Linden Tree. 


203 

m which these events took place is called in Valenciennes 
‘ the day of the unburned/ ” 

“ I would there were other such days to be celebrated/^ 
said Nina. . 

“If you are not tired,” said the young advocate, can 
give you a story of another escape yet more strange.” And 
receiving an assent to his proposal, he went on. 




CHAPTER XXVI. 

The Story of Jlngelos Merula. 

the last century,” said the young lawyer, ** my 
great-uncle Angeius was born at Brill. Had 
he lived to the present time, he would have 
been oyer fourscore years old. My father knew 
him well, and received much kindness from his 
hands. 

*‘When a young man he studied for the 
priesthood in the Catholic Church, and took 
the degree of Master of Arts. Afterwards he 
was presented to the benefice of Henfleet. I 
know not what up to this time his character 
had been, save that he gained his promotion 
by what were called his good manners and his 
great learning. But his great learning did not 
much for his enlightenment until he was in the 
later years of his life led to a diligent study of the Holy 
Scriptures ; and then, as I have heard, he began to see more 
and more with how many spots and errors the Church of 
Rome had been defiled and corrupted. To his surprise he 
then discovered that there was, as he could find, no foundation 
for the so-called sacrifice of the mass, for the worship of the 



The Story of Angelus Menda. 205 

Virgin Mary, for invocation to departed saints, and for many 
other innovations which had crept into the Christian Church, 
whereby it was made anti-Christian. These things dwelt 
long upon his mind in silence, until his heart burned within 
him with indignation against the errors in which he had been 
brought up. It was not, however, till he was near seventy 
years of age that he made known the thoughts which afflicted 
him ; and then, being no longer able to keep silence and do 
violence to his conscience, he made some alteration in the 
service of his Church, — in that part of it especially which 
touched upon the merits and mediation of the saints,— so 
that, instead of praying to be heard through those manifold 
intercessors, as the mass-book directs, he accustomed himselt 
to implore the mercy of God through the intercession of Christ 
alone, who is the glory of all saints. 

“ Proceeding in this manner,” continued Nina’s companion, 
"my relative now and then suggested to his hearers, and 
especially to his very good friend and patron who had pre- 
sented him to the benefice, several other doctrines opposed 
to popery. Sometimes he ventured to do this from his pulpit, 
but oftener in private conversation. He also moved his patron 
to reform several matters relating to his vicarage, over which 
he had power, — such as forbidding any further oblations to 
be made to certain images in tlie church at Henfleet, as well 
as divers superstitious processions in their honour. 

“As may be imagined, this course was not permitted a 
long continuance ; and being accused by some zealous papists 
who had heard of his proceedings, the venerable Reformer 
was cited to appear before one of the spiritual courts, where 
an inquiry was made into the changes he had introduced in 
the services of the mass-book. These being acknowledged 
by him, an inquisitor was sent to Henfleet, who having searched 
into his books and writings, drew up a number of articles 


206 


Within Sea Waits, 


against the aged man. Nevertheless my uncle so well defended 
himself, that nothing of importance could be found against 
him, — he still being in the privileged order of the Romish 
priesthood, though disapproving of the corruptions of the 
Romish Church. 

** Then said the inquisitor, ‘ I must have the written notes 
of your sermons,’ — which had not yet been given up or in- 
quired for. Some of my good uncle’s friends would have 
persuaded him to refuse this demand, as being beyond the 
inquisitor’s warrant ; but his own conscience, which acquitted 
him of preaching aught contrary to the Scriptures, exhorted 
him not to conceal or withhold these sermon notes. * For,’ 
said he, ‘ why should I dissemble or cloke the things I have 
preached to my people ? That which I was not ashamed to 
preach, I will not be afraid of openly confessing;’ and 
thereupon he delivered up his sermons. 

“ His condemnation was now assured ; for in those sermons 
were words such as these : 

“‘That nothing is necessary to be believed which cannot 
be found in the Word of God.’ 

“ ‘ That faith without love is no true and living faith.’ 

“ ‘ That all things needful for salvation are fully taught in 
the Holy Scriptures.’ 

“ ‘ That the hymn to the Virgin Mary, styling her the Queen 
of Heaven, is rank blasphemy against God and Christ." 

“ ‘ That no synods or councils of men, though the whole 
world concurred therein, ought by their decrees to draw men 
away from the promises and commands of God.’ 

“ These,” said the young gentleman, “ were the grave sins 
coifimitted by my poor old uncle against the Church.”* 

“ And yet they are all true matters,” said Nina. 

“ Ay, but the nearer the truth, the greater the crime, in 
these days,” said he. 


207 


The Story of Angelus Merula, 

The more the pity; but I fear me it is so,” added the 
young maiden, with a sigh. “ But I interrupt your story, sir. 
You hinted at a strange and wonderful escape from perse- 
cution.” 

“ Which I will now proceed to relate,” rejoined Master 
Paul ; “ and I will omit much that occurred in the next four 
years, during which time my venerable relative was haled from 
prison to prison ; also the various further examinations under- 
gone by him ; as well as the threatenings and blandishments 
alternately employed by his accusers and judges to induce 
him to recant what they called his heresies. Neither will I 
say anything particularly of the efforts made to obtain his 
release by some few influential friends who wished him well, 
and secretly adhered to the doctrines he had taught, — further 
than to say that those efforts availed nothing. I must tell, 
however, of a wicked stratagem which was played upon him by 
his persecutors, who, being alarmed by the demonstrations 
made against them by the people, as the time drew nigh when 
he was to’ receive sentence of death, determined, if they could, 
to cheat him into a recantation of what they called his errors. 
The truth being that they feared for their own lives, — so dear 
was he to the commons, who cried out that, in losing the aged 
gentleman, they were bereft of their father, their patron, their 
defender, and their comfort in times of trial. For my great- 
uncle had a large estate, which he had always been ready to 
expend to the benefit of the poor, and, among other deeds, 
had built a hospital for their relief. So this was the trick they 
played him : 

“ They brought my uncle — who, besides being old, was also 
very deaf— from his vile prison to the court, where sentence 
was expected to be pronounced ; but, instead of this, they 
gathered round him, and one in the especial, a bishop, knelt 
down before the prisoner and made a long speech, in which 


208 


Within Sea Walls, 


he praised the aged man's learning and piety, and declared 
that there was no difference of opinion between him and his 
judges, who indeed were his ‘truest’ friends — only that there 
were a few slight matters relating to mere trifles of no import ; 
and all they wished him to do for his release was to acknow- 
ledge (as a mere matter of form) that he had some vhat 
unseasonably endeavoured to abolish a few customs, which, 
indeed, were of no importance as matters of faith and doctrine ; 
that thereby he had given offence where no offence was 
intended, for which he would now express his sorrow. ‘ Do 
this,’ said the kneeling and suppliant bishop, ‘ and you shall 
live; and we will pawn our souls to the great Judge of the 
earth that your conscience shall be free from blame or sin.’ 

“These words being pronounced with much show of 
humility and kindness, and accompanied with shedding of 
tears, so wrought upon the deceived old man that, after a 
brief space he consented to say publicly as they had said, 
namely, that he was sorry he had given offence in things 
indifferent. So they led him to the scaffold, about which 
stood great numbers of people, who had been drawn together 
to witness the execution ; and there was read — not that which 
he had agreed to say, but an abjuration of all the so-called 
heresies of which he had been guilty, an acknowledgment of 
grievous error in having preached the same, and a desire to be 
reconciled to the Church, which he had so evilly offended. 

“ Now, I have told you that my dear uncle was exceedingly 
deaf This his persecutors knew ; and they took care that 
this false confession should be read in so low a tone, and so 
rapidly, that he himself should not hear it, though they took 
care that the people around were made acquainted with every 
particular. So, after the reading, he was asked in a loud voice, 
whether he agreed with what had been read; and he, not 
suspecting the trick which had been played upon him, answered^ 


The Story of Angelus Merula, 209. 

‘Yes* — meaning no more than that he disclaimed having 
intended to give offence concerning those trifling and indif- 
ferent matters which he had been desired to revoke. Never- 
theless, before he signed the paper, he desired to read it for 
himself ; but the inquisitors said there was no time then ; but 
they must make haste and quit the place, because of the 
clamours of the people, and because there was more to be 
done. So the helpless and bewildered old man took pen in 
hand, and signed his name, and then was hurried away. 

“ And it was a true saying, that about the clamours of the 
people; for no sooner had they learned what their former 
friend had so ignorantly done, than their love and compassion 
turned to hatred, anger, and curses. The poor prisoner (for 
he was a prisoner still) bore the scandal, and his friends the 
shame, of this deed of deceit.” 

“ Yet methinks,*’ said Nina,> hesitatingly and blushingly, 
when the young advocate came to a pause here, “ although this 
might be an escape from martyrdom, it was not a happy one.” 

“ Nay, but my story ends not here,” said the young gentle- 
man ; “ and the escape of which I spoke is yet to be told.” 

“ Having hurried my poor uncle back to prison, his judges 
then passed sentence upon him, that though, by his recanta- 
tion, his life was saved, he was thereafter to be perpetually 
imprisoned, to do penance for his sins. And then, too, 
was made known to him how great a deceit had been put 
upon him. 

“ It would take long,” continued the narrator, to tell of 
all that followed after this ; how my uncle wrote a full con- 
futation of the confession he had been tricked into signing ; 
how he was sent from one prison to another, and shut up 
in a monastery (the worst of all his prisons), where he was 
confined in a dungeon along with two men who had been 
bereft of their senses ; how, after that, he was again taken 

p 


210 


Within Sea Walls, 


before the inquisitors, where he openly declared that his 
recantation was a deceit put upon him, and that he would 
stand by all he had ever before preached, said, or written. 

“All this was afterwards known, as also how that, as 
a relapsed apostate, he was condemned to the fire. 

“ And now I come to the strange deliverance of the aged 
martyr, after five long, long years of bitter persecutions and 
horrible sufferings which he had been made to endure. 

“ The last prison of which he had experience was at Mons, 
where, for six weeks, he was confined in the dungeon of the 
castle, amidst filth and vermin, and with so scanty a supply of 
food and drink to keep life within him, that when brought out 
for execution he was so shrunken and feeble that he had need 
to be supported. 

“ As he was thus being led, a slight interruption took place; 
for my father at that moment appeared, having only the day 
before learned where his uncle was imprisoned, so secret had 
been the proceedings of the Inquisition ; and on making the 
discovery he had hastened with all speed to Mons, to use, if 
they could be made available, some last efforts to save the 
old, worn-out servant of God.” 

“Now the saints be praised!” ejsclaimed old Ursel, who 
had listened, with strong emotions, to the story. “I am 
glad your father, sir, arrived just in time to save the poor 
old man.” 

“ Nay, he did not thus escape,*' said the young gentleman ; 
“he was too late. The sentence had been passed, and the 
faggots were prepared, and the torches were lit. It needs 
must be that the heretic should die ; and all my father 
could do was to receive his last instructions and embraces, 
and to accompany him on this his last sad journey. 

“ And yet not sad to him, for he was helped to say as he 
went on, ‘I thank my most gracious Father that I am ap- 


21 1 


TJie Story of Angelus Merula, 

pointed to die publicly, and that it is not in the power of my 
adversaries to blast the constancy with which I am armed 
through His grace;* and so he went forward to the stake, 
rejoicing that he was counted worthy to suffer for the name of 
Jesus. Then presently he said to my father, ‘Believe firmly 
that you shall soon see the salvation of the Lord in the land 
of the living; behave, therefore, with courage, and patiently 
wait the Lord’s time.’ And when those who were leading the 
aged martyr heard this, they forcibly separated him from my 
father. Nevertheless, their victim, going on as well as his 
weakness would permit, and supported on one side by a monk, 
and on the other by the hangman, who was to set fire to the 
faggots, did not cease all the time to exhort the people to the 
knowledge of the truth, and to the love and fear of God, 
t gctlier with a continual meditation upon the death and 
merits of their only Saviour, Jesus Christ, and not to depend 
on tiie merit of their own works. And he further declared 
that the cause of their putting him to death was his main- 
taining that our worship ought only to be addressed to God. 

“ And now comes the deliverance of which I spoke. 

“ Being come out of the town, to the pile that was prepared, 
into the midst of which the martyr was to be put, he begged 
of them that he might have leave to put up a prayer before 
being fastened to the stake. This being granted, he knelt 
down and bowed his head on the outside of the pile. Re- 
maining in this position some little time, it began to be said 
that he was afraid of the approaching torments, and that 
therefore he remained so long on his knees. At length the 
executioner and others becoming impatient, they laid hands 
on him, and endeavoured to raise him, when, to their astonish- 
ment, they found that it was only a lifeless, unfeeling corpse 
they were handling. He himself was not, for God had 
taken him. 


212 


Withm Sea Walls, 


“ This/* added the narrator, “ was the end of my dear uncle, 
Angelas Merula, in which the goodness and mercy of God 
most visibly appeared. For it seemed manifest that it was 
He and no other who had delivered His servant from the 
burning fiery trial, at a time when no other help was near, and 
yet had permitted and enabled him to bear testimony to the 
gospel at the very latest hour of his life.” 

“ And yet did not this signal deliverance strike his persecu- 
tors with confusion and remorse asked Nina, when she found 
words to speak. 

" Ah, no ! only the public hangman, who was to have been 
the executioner. He refused to proceed with his loathsome 
task. ‘ For/ said he, *the condemned man was already dead ; 
and the law must needs be satisfied with that.’ But if the law 
was satisfied, the inquisitors were not; for they afterwards 
insisted that the corpse of my dead uncle should be burned 
to ashes.” 

“Holy Virgin! What men there be in the world!” ex- 
claimed Ursel, when the story was ended. 

“ ‘ Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, for they rest 
from their labours, and their works do follow them ! * ” gently 
whispered Nina, down whose cheeks the tears were softly 
trickling. 




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CHAPTER XXVII. 

Htetraspectiwe. 

NE summer’s evening, two years after the oc- 
currences at Antwerp recorded in the foregone 
chapters, two women might have been seen 
passing slowly along one of the principal streets 
of Leyden. They were strangers, apparently, for 
their steps were hesitating as well as slow ; and, 
from time to time, they cast furtive glances 
around, as though uncertain what course to take. 
In attendance upon them, though following at 
the distance of a few paces, was a sailor whose 
only arm (for he was maimed) bore sundry 
packages, which might have indicated to a 
curious observer that the ladies had but just 
landed on one of the numerous quays or 
wharves of the river, and were seeking a resting- 
place in the city. 

One of these strangers was elderly, as far as could be seen 
under the closely-fitting coif she wore ; the other was young 
and timid. Apparently, too, she was weakly, for she leaned 
upon the arm of her older but stronger companion ; and her 
footsteps were short and unequal. Her countenance, however 



2I6 


Within Sea Walls, 


could not be critically examined ; for she wore a veil of thick 
Flanders lace, closely drawn over her face. The rest of the 
costume of these two females was plain and simple, — in 
accordance with the custom of the day as followed by ladies 
when journeying. 

There was much in the town of Leyden that would have 
attracted the notice and admiration of those who visited it 
for the first time ; for this city, we are told, “ was one of the 
most beautiful in the Netherlands. Placed in the midst of 
broad and fruitful pastures which had been reclaimed by the 
hand of industry from the bottom of the sea, it was fringed 
with smiling villages, blooming gardens, fruitful orchards, 
The ancient and, at last, decrepit Rhine, flowing languidly 
towards its sandy death-bed, had been multiplied into in- 
numerable artificial currents, by which the city was completely 
interlaced. These watery streets were shaded by lime trees, 
poplars, and willows, and crossed by one hundred and forty- 
five bridges, mostly of hammered stone The houses were 
elegant; the squares and streets were spacious, airy, and 
clean ; the churches and public edifices were imposing ; while 
the whole aspect of the place suggested thrift, industry, and 
comfort.”^ 

It was listlessly, however, that the two feeble wayfarers 
passed slowly on through the tree-shaded and canal-lined 
streets. If they raised their eyes, it was to cast fearful 
glances at the few strollers they encountered ; for the times 
were such that in every person who crossed another’s path 
might be suspected either a secret spy or an open foe. There 
had been times when, on a summer evening like this, the 
streets of Leyden would have been gay with pleasure-seekers. 
Under the shelter of the green foliage of the fine old trees, 
groups of citizens would have congregated to discuss peace- 
^ Motley’s Rise of the DtUch Republic, 


217 


Partly Retrospective, 

fully their social and domestic affairs, or otherwise to exchange 
friendly greetings. Dames and damsels, released for the time 
from their household duties, would have been, at that hour, 
taking their evening walks, the latter tempting to follow them 
at a respectful distance the young clerks whose desks were 
closed for that day, and whose ledgers had been an hour 
before restored to their shelves. 

But now, in the dark year of 1569, fearfulness and trembling 
had taken the place of mirth and gladness; not alone in' 
Leyden, but in every city and town and village and hamlet 
and lone dwelling throughout the unhappy land. To adopt 
the language of the mourning prophet concerning Damascus ; 
— the inhabitants of the Netherlands were confounded ; they 
had heard evil tidings ; they were faint-hearted. There was 
sorrow on the sea; it could not be quiet. The land had 
waxed feeble, and had turned herself to flee. Fear had 
seized on her. Anguish and sorrows had taken her. Her 
young men had fallen in her streets ; and the men of war had 
been cut off. 

To be more explicit, — the two years which had transpired 
had been years of almost unmitigated distress to the be- 
wildered and downtrodden Protestants (both Lutherans and 
Calvinists) of the Netherlands. Nor indeed had Catholics 
escaped the general miseries of the times. Let us briefly 
glance at a few, only a few, of the dark passages of that 
doleful history. 

Coincident with the disturbances at Antwerp, or im- 
mediately following them, the city of Valenciennes had been 
taken by assault, and its inhabitants subjected to the most 
barbarous treatment from the victors; and during the two 
whole years which had passed heavily away, there had been 
scarcely a week in which several citizens were not executed, 
and often a great number were despatched at a time. To be 


2I8 


Within Sea Walls, 


rich, or merely reputed wealthy, was enough. “ It was a 
crime,” writes the historian, “for which no goodness and 
innocence could atone.” And what had happened to Valen- 
ciennes was but a type of that which was in store for any 
other city which might have the unhappiness to offend, or 
even excite the suspicion of the persecuting King of Spain, or 
his treacherous sister the Regent, or their merciless tool the 
Duke of Alva. 

For he was now upon the scene, — a human tiger, knowing 
no sentiments of pity. During the past two years he had 
been ruling with a rod of iron, or a blood-stained sword, over 
the land, at the head of ten thousand of Spains picked 
veterans. A tall, thin, erect man of sixty, with a small head, 
a long visage, lean yellow cheeks, dark twinkling eyes, a dusk 
complexion, black bristling hair, long sable-silvered beard, 
descending in two waving streams upon his breast — such is 
the description which has come down to us on the stream of 
time of the person of the Duke of Alva; and the world has 
agreed that such an amount of stealth and ferocity, of patient- 
vindictiveness and universal bloodthirstiness, were never found 
in a savage beast of the forest, and but rarely in a human 
bosom. He had entered the Netherlands as a conqueror, not 
as a mediator. “ I have tamed people of iron in my day,” 
said he, on one occasion ; “ and shall I not easily crush these 
men of butter Such was the man whom, for a time, God 
permitted (for His own wise purposes) to be the scourge of the 
Netherlands. Can we wonder that mirth and song and joy 
had faded out of the land ? 

But is it true that among all the persecuted and oppressed 
there were none to rise against the persecutors and the op- 
pressors } Where were the Gueux — the Beggars, — who had 
sworn that, though faithful to their king, tiiey would give 
themselves no rest till their country’s liberties were restored 


219 


Partly Retrospective, 

and assured?, Where were their leaders? Where was he — 
the noble prince — who, though having nothing to do with 
that confederacy, had shown himself so faithful, and cou- 
rageous, and politic in his country’s defence ? Did he live, 
and could all hope be lost ? 

Many such questions were asked then throughout the 
length and breadth of the watery land ; and these might have 
been, the substance of the answers : — 

The confederacy of the Beggars, if not broken up, had been, 
and at present was, powerless for help. No wonder at this, 
considering the diverse character of its component parts. It 
was felt by the best, and holiest, and wisest of the poor 
persecuted Protestants that it was like a going down to 
Egypt for help, when such godless men, as the majority of 
these Beggars were, were enlisted on the side oPreligion ; and 
when such unhallowed means as were adopted were chosen 
for the deliverance of God’s people. The confederacy, how- 
ever, was not wholly extinct, though now but little was heard 
of it. 

Where were its leaders ? Ask Brussels what it witnessed 
on the 5th of June, 1568, when Count Egmont, as had been 
foretold to him by his faithful friend the Prince of Orange, 
expiated on the scaffold the fault of being a renegade to the 
people whom he had sworn to defend, for the sake of serving 
the tyrant who used him for his own purposes, and then pro- 
nounced his doom. With him perished Count Horn, another 
warning example left us on the pages of history of the truth, 
“that it is better” (oh, how infinitely better, dear reader!) 
“to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.” 
And Count Brederode, the chief of all the Gueux when that 
body was started, and from whom so much was expected, 
where was he ? Alas for poor human nature, and for his own 
renown ! — he too had been found wanting in the day of trial. 


220 


Within Sea Walls, 


Sustained by no strong principles, and having no sympathies 
with the higher sentiments of his oppressed fellows, he had 
fallen from his fidelity to them. The course of events had 
changed him too from a champion of the peoples rights to a 
cringing vassal of the oppressor, and then again, as it seems, 
to a noisy patriot, — dying a few months afterwards of dis- 
appointment and hard drinking. So history informs us. 

And thus with regard to all, or most of the leaders of the 
confederacy, this is the summing-up : “ Of the chieftains to 
whom the people had been accustomed to look for support 
and encouragement, some had rallied to the government, some 
were in exile, some were in prison. Montigny, closely watched 
in Spain, was virtually a captive, pining for the young bride 
to whom he had been wedded amid such brilliant festivities 
but a few months before his departure, and for the child which 
was never to look upon its father’s face. His colleague, 
Marquis Berghen, more fortunate, was already dead.” This 
then was, or seemed to be, the hopeless state of the famous 
band of Beggars at the date to which our story has reached. 
Doubtless it was well that it should be so ; for these were not 
the instruments by which God had ordained to bring about 
the deliverance of His people. 

And the Prince of Orange — what of him A few words 
must suffice here. Very soon after his departure from Antwerp 
after its pacification, he sought out the Count of Egmont, who, 
heedless of the hidden dangers by which he was surrounded, 
was pursuing a headlong career of misplaced devotion to the 
king, and of severity towards his former friends and confede- 
rates. Warning the count of these perils, and entreating him 
with all the warmth of strong affection, though ineffectually, 
to take measures for his safety, these brothers in arms embraced 
and parted, never to meet again. The prince’s next step was 
to address a letter to King Philip, once more resigning all his 


221 


Partly Retrospective, 

offices, and announcing his intention of departing for Ger^ 
many ; adding, that he should be always ready to place him- 
self and his property at the king’s orders in everything which 
he believed conducive to the true service of His Majesty. 

This step was not taken too soon ; for, as afterwards was 
known, letters had already been written by the treacherous and 
cruel Philip to Alva, instructing him to arrest the prince as 
soon as he could lay hands upon him, and not to let his trial 
last more than twenty-four hours. Having been foiled in his 
base scheme by the timely flight of the prince, the vindictive 
oppressor seized upon and confiscated all his property in the 
Netherlands. 

“With the departure of Orange,” writes the historian, “a 
total eclipse seemed to come over the Netherlands. The 
country was absolutely helpless, the popular heart was cold 
with apprehension. All persons at all implicated in the late 
troubles, or suspected of heresy, fled from their homes. Fugi- 
tive soldiers were hunted into rivers, cut to pieces in the fields, 
hanged, burned, or drowned like dogs, without quarter, and 
without remorse. The most industrious and valuable part of 
the population left the land in droves. . . . The new religion 
was banished from all the cities ; every conventicle was broken 
up by armed men ; the preachers and leading members were 
hanged, their disciples were beaten with rods, reduced to 
beggary, or imprisoned, even if they sometimes escaped the 
scaffold. An incredible number, however, were executed for 
religious causes. Hardly a village so small, says the Antwerp 
chronicler, but that it could furnish one, two, or three hundred 
victims to the executioner. The new churches were levelled 
to the ground, and out of their timbers gallows were con- 
structed. It was thought ingenious pleasantry to hang the 
Reformers upon the beams under which they had hoped to 
A'orship God.” 


222 


Within Sea Walls, 


Much more might be added ; but enough has been written 
to show into what depths of misery the once happy and 
flourishing land had sunk. It is interesting to know, however, 
that these persecutions had no power to separate from their 
love to Christ, any more than from the love of Christ, those 
who were truly His. That there were many instances of men 
and women abandoning their profession of the doctrines of the 
Reformers is doubtless the fact. Those who loved their pos- 
sessions better than their creed, — their lives than their Lord, — ■ 
were unable to contend against the influences surrounding 
them, and were suddenly converted into zealous Catholics, 
But such as these were no loss to the real Church. 

On the other hand, there were those on whom these atrocities 
and sorrows had the blessed effect of sanctifying both their 
bodies and their souls, increasing their love to the Saviour, or 
fixing them, if wavering, in their steadier adherence to the 
fliith once delivered to the saints.” i\mong these was the 
Prince of Orange himself For “ about this time,” we are told 
by the historian to whose valuable work we have been 
so greatly indebted, “ a deep change came over his mind. 
Hitherto his course of life and habits of mind had not led him 
to deal very earnestly with things beyond the world. But the 
severe duties, the grave character of the cause to which his 
days were henceforth to be devoted, had already led him to a 
closer inspection of the essential attributes of Christianity. 
He was now enrolled for life as a soldier of the Reformation. 
The Reformation was henceforth his father-land, the sphere of 
his duty and affection. The religious Reformers became his 
brethren, whether in France, Germany, the Netherlands, or 
England. Yet his mind had taken a higher flight than that 
of the most eminent Reformers. His goal was — religious 
liberty. Even while favouring more and more the cause of 
the purified Church, and becoming daily more alive to the 


223 


Partly Retrospective* 

corruption of Rome, he was yet willing to tolerate all forms of 
worship, and to leave reason to combat error. Without a 
particle of cant or fanaticism, he had become a deeply religious 
man. Hitherto he had been only a man of the world and a 
statesman ; but from this time forth he began calmly to rely 
upon God’s providence in all the emergencies of his eventful 
life. His letters, written to his most confidential friends, to be 
read only by themselves, . . . abundantly prove his sincere 
and simple trust.” 

What effect this change or advance in the character of the 
hero of the Netherlands had upon his subsequent course may 
hereafter be seen. For the present, we must return to our 
two feeble travellers, whom we left just now in the streets 
of Leyden. 

“ I think we must be near the place now, nurse,” said the 
younger and weaker of the two women. 

They had turned out of the wider street in which we found 
them, and were now traversing the pavement of a narrower 
and meaner, yet business-like thoroughfare, on the banks of 
one of the numerous canals, or branches of the Rhine, by 
which the city was intersected. Hitherto they had met with 
no interruption ; for, though the day was not far spent, there 
were few comparatively in the streets. Probably, also, the 
age of the elder and the evident infirmity of the younger of 
the strangers had staved off the curiosity of those whom they 
had encountered. 

This is the street, for certain,” said the elderly woman ; 
" that is, if you have read the name aright, my pet.” 

“ And there is the sign of which she has written to me,” 
returned the younger person, in a tone of joyful recognition, 
as she pointed to a huge golden key suspended in mid-air 
from the upper story of an old, many-gabled hou.'ie a little 


224 


Within Sea Walls. 


way in advance of them. A few dozens of steps brought 
them beneath the swinging symbol or emblem of a locksmith^s 
trade. “ It is the first door to the left,” she added ; and then, 
with a hurried, trembling hand, she knocked at the door thus 
indicated. 

A light footstep within, and then the door was cautiously 
opened. One moment of suspense, then the thick Flanders 
veil was lifted ; and then, with a cry in which were strongly 
blended the opposite emotions of joy and terror, the fair 
porteress sprang forward, clasped her visitor in her stronger 
arms, and showered kisses fast and thick upon her lips. 

“Dear Cousin Nina!” 

“Dear cousin — dear Sister Lysken!” 

A few more hurried words passed, and then the one-armed 
follower was relieved of his burden, and dismissed with a few 
kindly words, spoken almost in a whisper. Then the three 
females entered in at the low doorway. 



HE habitation into which the two strangers (who 
were none other than Nina Franck and her old 
nurse Ursel) were ushered was small and lowly, 
but spotlessly clean. The house, however, was 
large enough for its occupants ; and while Lys- 
ken is tenderly and lovingly giving her un- 
divided attention to her unexpected, but most 
welcome guests, we shall briefly go over the 
domestic history of the two years which have 
elapsed since the cousins last parted. 

Lysken Franck no longer bore that name. 
It seems strange to us, in these quiet, peaceable 
days, that in times of bitter persecution, a com- 
plete suspension of the great ordinance of 
creation never took place. They must have 
had strong faith or wonderful courage — amount- 
ing, as some may think, to rashness — those matrimonial pairs 
who, in the face of daily perils, poverty, imprisonment, banish- 
ment, and martyrdom itself, could yet unite themselves to- 
gether in conjugal bonds. 

Lysken Franck had been some months married to Kaspar 

o 




226 


Within Sea Walls. 


Arnoldzoon, knowing that his worldly calling would take him 
much from his home, and that his heavenly calling, together, 
with his boldness for the faith, was constantly exposing him 
to innumerable dangers. Yet she had married him ; and up 
to the present time no particular alarms had disturbed the 
small household. To be sure, whenever Kaspar started on 
one of his journeys it was uncertain whether he would be 
permitted to return in safety ; for more likely than not, the 
next news of him would be that he was arrested on the charge 
of heresy. But Lysken had the strong faith, and her husband 
had the wonderful courage, of which we have written ; so they 
put their trust in God, and went on in the path of duty. 

Probably the quiet obscurity of their lowly position in 
Leyden was in some measure a screen to them. The young 
lace-maker (for Lysken had persevered in this branch of 
home industry, and had become expert in it), spending much 
of her time with her lace-pillow and bobbins, when not en- 
gaged in household duties, had no disposition to gossip with 
her neighbours, nor, indeed, to make much acquaintance 
among them, except when they needed friendly help ; and 
this in some measure preserved her from prying eyes and 
busy tongues. Besides, nothing would be got by denouncing 
her as a heretic, even if the sympathies of a great majority 
of her own class had not been enlisted in her favour on that 
very account. As for Arnoldzoon, his perils were more 
abroad than at home, where (though the nature of his con- 
cealed trade and the real object of his journeys were under- 
stood) he had hitherto been undisturbed. 

With Lysken lived her father, who had once more established 
himself in the mechanical part of his musical profession which 
was so hastily and ruinously broken up in Ghent. He was 
still an anxious and timid man, loving the truth, and hiding 
it in his heart, but making no open boast of the treasure he 


227 


Lyskefis Home, 

had found. His spare time was now taken up in the re- 
construction of the ingenious musical contrivance which had 
so occupied his thoughts in past days. Certainly, no one, 
watching Gerald Franck as he ceaselessly wrought at his 
bench, and knowing so little as was known of him in Leyden, 
would have set him down as a formidable enemy to the state, 
or the state religion either. 

The only other member of Lysken’s small establishment 
was Hans van Muler, the young printer, who was still en- 
gaged in the office of Giles Arnoldzoon, at the sign of the 
Golden Key. Ostensibly the proceedings of this printing 
establishment were sufficiently within the line and rule of 
orthodoxy to satisfy the Inquisition : covertly and secretly 
the press of Giles Arnoldzoon was helping on the faith of 
Christ and the principles of the Reformation. 

Serenely, then, if not free from anxiety as to their own 
future, and certainly full of care regarding the ark of God, 
and of sympathy towards their suffering brethren and sisters 
in the faith — yet serenely, because their trust was in God — 
did His humble ones pursue their appointed course, not 
knowing through what strait and difficult and thorny paths 
it might lead them, but well knowing that it was an upward 
path withal, with a promise and a hope and a certainty be- 
longing to it to cheer them onward : the promise being, “ He 
that endureth to the end shall be saved “To him that over- 
cometh will I grant to sit with Me on My throne ; even as I 
also overcame, and am set down with My Father on His 
throne the hope being a good hope through grace of being 
more than conquerors through Him who loved them ; and 
the certainty being that above all the tumults and strife and 
terrors of earth was One who was all the while making the 
wrath of man to praise Him. 

Yet, though serene, there was one peculiar personal sorrow 


228 


Within Sea Walls, 


felt by each of the members of that humble family — most of 
all by Lysken. Her brother Karl — where was he ? The 
reader will remember that, two years and more before the 
time to which we have arrived, he had sailed away in one 
of Floris Franck s merchant ships, bound for Venice. That 
ship had never returned ; and neither Karl Franck nor any 
of the crew had ever been heard of. 

We must break off here, for the intelligence brought by 
Nina to her cousin, is too weighty and interesting to be 
introduced at the end of a chapter. 





CHAPTER XXIX. 


The Secret Meeting, and an Jilarm. 


EAR Nina,” said the young hostess, when, after 
partially recovering from the effect of her jour- 
ney, the Antwerp cousin was reclining on a 
temporary couch hastily prepared for her, “ it is 
but a poor home you have condescended to visit ; 
and if you had forgotten your parting promise 
to come and see me, I need not have wondered. 
But what we lack in grandeur shall be made up 
in welcome. I would my husband were at home 
to show you more honour than I can.” 

“ Alas ! and is he away on one of his danger- 
ous journeys asked the invalid cousin, who 
until now had been too far exhausted to reply 
to Lysken’s eager inquiries except in mono- 
syllables. 

“He left Leyden almost a month since, and 
I know not when he may return ; for his move- 
ments have to be made with so much uncertainty as well as 
secrecy, that even he himself cannot always tell what his 
plans will be from day to day.” 

“ I wonder you can bear his absence, Lysken, even were 
there no dangers beyond those common to all travellers.” 


230 


Within Sea Walls, 


‘*We know not how much strength may be given us to 
bear what is laid upon us in the way of duty,” said Lysken, 
with a pleasant smile, although her lips trembled a little as 
she spoke. 

“And you are right, my sweet cousin,” exclaimed Nina, 
with unwonted energy. “ Do I not myself feel it to be so ? 
But a few days ago,” she added, “ I could not have believed 
that I could have taken this journey with no other companion 
than my poor Ursel and good Jan, or could have borne its 
fatigues. Yet I am here ; and have I not a right to say that 
God has helped me ? Dear Lysken,” she continued, speaking 
as though v/ith a strong effort to restrain her sobs and tears, 
“you spoke but now of the poverty of your home. You little 
deem that your home is a palace to mine. Alas ! I have 
no home.” 

“Nina! dear cousin!” cried Lysken, starting with amaze- 
ment and disbelief, or as though she thought she had mis- 
comprehended her cousin’s words. And then she added, 
“ Your journey has over-tired you, dear Nina; you mean not 
what you have said in very truth V 

“ It is true, though,” interposed old Ursel, who was in 
attendance on her young mistress ; “ it is true. My pet has 
no longer a home in Antwerp, nor father, nor sisters. Neither 
have I a home,” she added, rather angrily. 

Lysken turned from one speaker to the other with cheeks 
suddenly paled. She could not command utterance in reply 
to news so unexpected and inexplicable, — unexplained, at 
least. It was Nina who first broke the painful silence; and, 
though it was a sad story she had to tell, she gained courage 
as she went on. It was the courage of a true and living and 
actuating faith, — the courage which endures, as seeing Him 
who is invisible. 

This is Nina’s story, told in other words, and also with 


The Secret Meetings and an Alarm. 23 1 

some additional explanations, which she herself could not 
then have given : • 

For some months past Floris Franck, who had almost 
entirely withdrawn himself from commerce, had been in close 
and secret communication with the Prince of Orange, and 
had been making preparations for a lengthened sojourn in 
England, where it was hoped he might be beneficially em- 
ployed in moving the English Protestant government on 
behalf of his oppressed countrymen. He had been encouraged 
and assisted in carrying out this project by Sir Francis 
Walsingham, the English ambassador at Antwerp, and had 
so far advanced in it as to have safely transmitted the bulk 
of his property across the sea. His two elder daughters had 
also, with some difficulty, been persuaded to a short separation 
from their father and sister, and, properly attended, had sailed 
some two or three weeks before, in a merchant ship bound 
for the port of London. There they had safely arrived, and 
were for the time guests of the London correspondent of their 
father. Nina, however, at her earnest request, had remained 
at Antwerp, waiting with him until some final arrangements 
permitted them to follow. 

Meanwhile Floris Franck held frequent, though very secret, 
intercourse with such ministers of the Reformed faith as still 
survived the most bitter persecution, and who were driven 
from place to place, having no certain dwelling, but often 
took refuge, as it were, “ in caves and dens of the earth,’’ 
unless they could obtain shelter and sustenance with some 
brother in the faith who had sufficient courage to brave the 
threats of that new edict which sentenced to the gallows not 
only all ministers and teachers, but any who suffered their 
houses to be used for religious purposes. Among the ministers 
thus harboured by Floris Franck were two already mentioned 
in these memoirs, Franciscus Junius and Guy Regis, the 


232 


Within Sea Waits. 


ex-iiiorik, both of whom, under various disguises, stealthily 
flitted from place to pltice, holding midnight meetings where 
they might, aaministering the ordinances in secret, and com- 
forting and encouraging tne hid ien followers of the Lord 
v/ith the hopes and promises of the gospel. 

One night, long after dusk, about a week or ten day^s before 
the unexpected appearance of Nina at Leyden, Mymheer 
Franck, professing to his sister and his remaining servants that 
business of importance called him from home at that late 
hour, — which was indeed true, — bent his steps towards the 
9anal on which his warehouses were situated. Here he 
paused at the narrow door of one of them, and after cautiously 
1 oking around him, gave the accustomed signal, which was 
nninediately responded to by the one-armed watchman within, 
who presently opened the door, and carefully closed and 
bolted it after his master had entered. Then the two groped 
tneir way onward by the ligiit of a dim lamp -into a long 
narrow apartment, which was now cleared of the greater part 
of its merchandise, saving that (as far as could be seen by 
two or three dull ligiits suspended on the walls) a number 
of empty boxes and planks were arranged as seats. 

The only person then present, however, besides the master 
and man, was one, apparently a sailor, but whom the e\e3 
of Floris recognised as the pastor Junius. Between these 
two, warm and brotherly greetings were exchanged. 

The disguised minister was .seated at a small table, on 
which was placed the elements and vessels of the communion 
of the body and blood of Christ, — namely, a loaf of bread, 
a flagon of wine, a platter or two, and a silver cup. A printed 
volume, much worn, as though from long or rough handling, 
lay before him on the table. 

“ Our brethren and sisters are late,” said the supposed 
mariner. 


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The Secret Meetings and an Alarm. 235 

** There have been fresh alarms in the city to-day,” replied 
the merchant, sadly. "A proclamation has been posted, 
offering a large reward to any who will inform against the 
suspected meetings of heretics. I fear me if many will venture 
hither to-night.” 

Notwithstanding this augury, however, it was not long ere 
a goodly number of worshippers (led in, as they arrived, by 
the watchman) were seated around the table, and presently 
the solemn service was commenced. 

It would be interesting, and not uninstructive, if we could 
accompany the disguised shepherd and his persecuted but 
faithful flock in their devotions, and especially in their cele- 
bration of the simple, but sublime and touching ordinance, 
through which they showed the Lord’s death till He should 
:ome, their faith in His resurrection and mediation, and 
their love to Him and to each other. Reluctantly compelled, 
in this recapitulation of events, to omit many interesting 
particulars, we can only record tliat it was long past midnight 
ere the little company broke up their meeting and separated, 
— separated as those who might never meet again in like 
manner, until all should “sit down at the marriage supper 
in heaven. Embracing each other, therefore, most tenderly, 
as brethren in the same faith, followers of the same Lord, 
and fellow sufferers under the same persecution, they cautiously 
emerged one by one from the low door abutting upon the 
canal, until only the owner of the warehouse, his faithful one- 
armed servant, the pastor, and three other brethren remained 
behind. 

Then arose a friendly discussion as to whom for that night 
should belong the perilous honour of harbouring their teacher. 

“ By right, reverend sir, you should be my guest,” said one 
of the two, a trader named Behrend ; “ and in my house you 
will rest more commodiously than in the loft above.*’ 


236 


Within Sea Walls. 


** Ah, but who will warrant it shall be as safely ?” demanded 
another of the little group. “We know that thou art heart- 
sound, brother Behrend, and wouldst* defend thy guest even 
at the expense of thy life’s blood ; but report says that thy 
worthy dame looks but sourly on us and on our assemblies. 
She thinks, as I have heard, that there is little profit and 
much risk in serving the Lord Jesus in such times as these.” 

A deep sigh from brother Behrend seemed partly to confirm 
the truth of this representation. Yet he hazarded an apology 
for his dame. “ She hath been grievously afflicted both in 
body and mind,” said he, “ and Satan’s temptations have 
been strong upon her. Nevertheless, my wife loves the truth 
in her heart, though she is somewhat timid.” 

“Enough said,” interposed pastor Junius, here. “What 
need of any further refuge than my ancient loft, which has 
so often served me, and in which many a time I have held 
sweet converse with my Saviour and God } Methinks I am 
better off than He who had not where to lay His head.” 

“ But He did not refuse to lodge with His true friends, 
when it was in their power to receive Him into their houses,” 
said brother Franck ; “and you must go with me to-night, — 
it may be for the last time.” 

“ I had thought of proposing this, if you would receive 
me,” said the pastor ; “ the more so that I would see youir 
daughter Nina once more, ere she be lost to us.” And so it 
was agreed. 

Just at this moment, however, a whispered communication 
was made to the merchant, and a scrap of paper was put 
into his hand by his porter, the hasty reading of which 
resulted in an instantaneous change of plans. 

“ Extinguish all but one of the lights,” said the master, in 
a suppressed tone of command, “and then bar the door. 
Friends,” he went on, “there has been treachery in some 


The Secret Meeting, and an Alarm, 237 

quarter. My house, since I left it, has been entered by the 
officers of the Inquisition, and having taken possession of 
my papers, they are still there, waiting my return home. It 
is well that their information was not more precise, and that 
they followed me not hither. Yet who shall say that they • 
may not even now be on the track ? Friends, this must be 
a hurried parting. Jan shall conduct you through the secret 
passage to the cellar, thence you can make your exit un- 
observed. You, sir,’’ — this to the pastor, — “ must not remain 
here, nor can I take you with me ” 

“Better return to Rotterdam as you came, on board my 
smack as a sailor, sir,” interposed one of the little party who 
had not before spoken. “ We will lift anchor as soon as you 
are on board, and the officers of the Inquisition will have 
quick work if they follow us.” 

“Whatever is done must be done quickly,” said Franck; 

“ and I think our brother s proposal is a safe one.” 

“ And what will you do ?” was asked by the pastor. 

“ I will wait only to see you all gone, and then I will bend 
my steps homeward.” 

“But why should you not flee while there is time and 
opportunity ? The same bark which conveys me away would 
also deliver you from this present danger,” observed the 
minister. 

“ You forget my daughter and my household,” said the 
merchant. “ Besides, flight would be an admission of crime, 

— the great crime of worshipping God,” he added, bitterly. 
“No, I will meet my accusers face to face. But I pray you, 
brethren, to take your departure ere it be too late.” 

So they parted with hastily-spoken farewells, — the maimed 
watchman preceding the minister and his friends through the 
dark secret passage, and opening for them the trap-door, 
which admitted them into a back yard, and thence into a 


Within Sea Walls, 


238 

narrow lane. In a few minutes the man returned, and he 
and his master only occupied the warehouse. 

“Remove these tell-tales to their hiding-place, Jan,” said 
the merchant, pointing to the plates, and flagon, and cup, 
and book, which had so lately been solemnly used, “and 
then unbar the door.” 

“You will not venture among them, master?” said Jan, 
anxiously. 

“ I shall return to my home, Jan.” 

“ They will drag you away to prison, sir.” 

“ That must be as God wills it,” said the merchant, calmly. 
“ But, in case it should be so, let me do an act of justice while 
it is in my power.” He took out his purse as he spoke. 
“ You have served me faithfully in this, as in all other matters ; 
and now,” — there was a chink as of golden coins, — “if you 
hear in the morning of my arrest, here is that which will 
sustain you till you find a new master.” 

“Your honour was always good,” said the old sailor; “but 
put back your gold, sir. It isn’t for that I have been your 
watchman here at these times, — it has been for Christ’s sake.” 

“True ; and we are not master and servant, for one is our 
Master, and all we are brethren. Nevertheless let it be so. 
Receive the money, not as wages, but as a love-token : you 
need it, which I do not. And now I will go. If you see 
me here in the morning betimes, well ; if not, see to your 
own safety, Jan. Or if I should be removed,” — Floris faltered 
a little here, but, speedily recovering firmness, he added, — 
“ my daughter may need your help.” 

“ Which shall be willingly and lovingly yielded, as God 
may help me,” said the man ; and thus they parted at the 
warehouse door. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

®ina’s Start}, 

r will be better now that Nina shodio herself 
take up the thread of her story. 

“ Think, dear Lysken, what agony 1 was in 
when, after secretly despatching that note, in 
hope that by some means or other it would do 
its errand, the inquisitor, in soft and placid 
tones, began to question me about my dear 
father, desiring me to tell him whither he was 
gone, and assuring me (which I knew to be 
false) that no harm was intended against him. 
He wished only, he said, to put to him a few 
insignificant questions, which might easily be 
answered. He also questioned me as to what 
visitors we had had of late, while he apologised 
to me for the alarm he had caused in our house- 
hold, which, however, he assured me was unnecessary. 

I was glad then that my father had‘ not made me his 
confidante; for though I could guess whither he was gone, 
and sent the message to him thither at a venture, yet I could 
answer with a clear conscience that I knew not ; nor was the 
inquisitor, with all his blandishments, able to extract from me 



240 


Within Sea Walls, 


anything further. So presently he left me, and closeted him- 
self with Aunt Philippa. 

“ The time passed on till long after midnight, and then I 
began to hope that my dear father had received my billet, 
had taken warning, and had made his escape. But in this I 
was deceived ; for presently I heard his footstep, and then, 
after knocking at the door according to his wont, he entered. 

“ I know not what passed then for an hour or more ; 
because the unwelcome visitor and my father were shut up 
alone in his book-room, while I lay on my couch, waiting and 
trembling with dread for my dear father, and praying that, if 
it were God’s will, he might clear himself, and be rid of his 
guest. But this was not to be.” 

“ Did not your aunt keep you company in all this time V' 
asked Lysken. 

“ Nay, cousin ; only she sent messages from time to time, 
saying how much too discomposed she was to see even me ; 
but bidding me keep up good heart, for that no harm would 
come to my father, the visit not being intended for him. At 
this I wondered much ; but alas ! it was afterwards explained 
to me.” 

“ I am afraid to guess what more you have to tell con- 
cerning that night,” said Lysken. 

“ It is not much, dear cousin ; and I will pass it over as 
lightly as I am able. After a long time (as it seemed to me, 
a whole night), my dear father came in to me, and tenderly 
embraced me, telling me to be of good cheer, for that he was 
leaving me in God’s protection. 

Leaving me! Ah, what did he mean I asked. 

‘ I am under the necessity of accompanying this gentle- 
man,’ he said, turning to the inquisitor, who had glided 
noiselessly into the room. And my father then gave me a 
warning look, which seemed to tell me to restrain my 


241 


Nina's Story, 

emotions, and to say nothing that would be afterwards urged 
against me. So, at least, I understood the caution ; and I 
know not how, but strength seemed given to me to say, some- 
what boldly, though with a failing heart, that I trusted he 
would soon return. 

“ ‘ It will be as God wills it,’ he said, adding, that it would 
be better for me to retire to rest as soon as he was gone, and 
not to be alarmed if he did not return on the following day, 
which, indeed, was even then almost breaking. Then he once 
more embraced me ; and before I could recover myself he 
was gone, and the grave inquisitor with him Soon afterwards 
I heard the sound of wheels, which assured me that a carriage 
had been kept in waiting in the street hard by, and that all 
this had been planned beforehand.” 

“ My poor Nina !” said Lysken, weeping in sympathy. “ I 
can guess the rest,” she added. 

“ Nay, not all,” continued Nina, with more composure ; yet 
her voice was sorrowful in its tone. “ Hear what more I have 
to tell. Hardly had my father and the inquisitor departed, 
and while I was sadly bemoaning what had happened, and 
was on my knees praying to God to help my father in his 
sore strait, when Aunt Philippa hastily entered my room, and 
cried out for her brother. 

Know you not that he is gone away with that priest who 
was with you so long V I asked. 

‘ Gone ! No, it cannot be — your father taken away !’ she 
exclaimed. 

“ ‘ Heard you not the wheels of the carriage, aunt V 1 said. 

“ ‘ And if I did, they told me nothing,’ said she, angrily, yet 
despairingly, I thought. 

“ ‘ They have taken him away to prison,’ I replied ; and the 
little fortitude that had remained to me departed, so that I 
broke out into a loud cry of sorrow. 

R 


242 


Within Sea Walls. 


“Upon this niy aunt also gave way to an agony of grief, 
saying again and again, ‘ Oh ! I meant it not so ! I meant it 
not so! Dear Floris I Dear Floris 1’ meaning my father. 
And then she hastily left me. 

“ I did not then understand her words ; and in truth I was 
too deeply plunged in grief to pay much heed to them, 
though I could but wonder what Aunt Philippa could mean 
when she said, ‘ I meant it not so.* On the morrow I learned 
to understand it better, alas I 

“That was a sorrowful day which was just then dawning ; 
but God was merciful to me ; for in the extremity of my 
distress, as I lay on my day couch (not having gone to bed, 
nor, indeed, thrown off any of my garments), He was pleased 
to cause a deep sleep to fall upon me ; and, oh, Cousin 
Lysken 1 I had such pleasant dreams 1” 

“ Pleasant, dear Nina 

“ Nay, pleasant is too cold a word — too cold and feeble, 
dear Lysken. It was more like a heavenly vision that I had. 
Have you not read how, in old times, the angels of the Lord 
were commissioned to appear to His people in dreams and 
visions of the night, to strengthen them and to confirm their 
faith r 

“ Yes, truly, I have read so,” said Lysken ; “ but methought 
those times had passed away.” 

“ Nay, but I know not why this should be, Lysken,” said 
the young enthusiast ; “ and I would not think otherwise than 
that an angel stood by me then, telling me to be of good 
cheer, for that not a hair of my father’s head should be 
harmed.” 

“The Lord Jesus has told us this also, without a dream,” 
said Lysken, with a loving smile. “ Has He not said that 
the very hairs of our heads are so precious to Him that they 
are all numbered ? Yet I doubt not your vision, dear Nina; 


Ninds Story, 243 

for why should not God send His angels to us now, if He sees 
fit ? But did your dream or vision end there, Nina ?” 

“ No ; for presently, in the place of the angel, stood one 
whom I have known ere now. He lives in this city.” 

“ Not my husband, Nina 

“ No, not your husband ; but a good Christian. His name 
is Merula.” 

An advocate. Yes ; I have heard of him,” said Lysken, 
looking rather sorry, perhaps, that her cousin’s beatific vision 
should have degenerated into things “ of the earth, earthy ” — 
that the angel should have changed into a mortal. She said 
nothing of this, however ; and Nina went on — 

“ Yes, an advocate. He has been betrothed to my sister 
Margaret this year past ; so there was nothing extraordinary 
in my dreaming of the one who is to be my dear brother. 
Do you think so .?” she asked, calmly. 

“ No, indeed, Nina.” 

“ Well, then, I dreamt that Paul Merula was with me, and 
he smiled pleasantly on me, and then walked quietly away, 
beckoning me to follow. Then I awoke, and found it was a 
dream, and that the sun was high in the heavens. I had slept 
soundly five hours, and dear Ursel, when she found me on the 
couch in the morning, had covered me up, and watched by 
my side.” 

“And need enough, my pet,” interposed Ursel. “She was 
shivering in her sleep with the cold morning air; and so I 
brought her a down quilt, and wrapped it round her.” 

“ I had not felt the cold,” said Nina ; “ but nurse’s care 
made my sleep the longer ; and when I woke I felt so happy 

so happy, for I believed that my dream had been sent me 

as a token for good. And I had need of this encouragement ; 
for as soon as I had collected my thoughts I remembered all 
the terrible events of the past night, and was told tliat there 


244 


Within Sea Walls, 


were two officials then in the house, who had taken charge of 
all my father’s property, and that all the household was in 
confusion and dismay.” 

“ And dear Uncle Floris — heard you aught of him 

“ Not that day, Lysken ; but the day after came one who 
told us that, after a long examination before the chief 
inquisitor in Antwerp, my father had been recommitted to 
prison. There was poor comfort in this ; but God sent me 
comfort in more ways than I have told you ; and one of these 
other ways was when our faithful Jan, who had charge of the 
warehouses, came and told me that my dear father had 
appointed him to watch over me, and declared that he would 
defend me, if needed, with his one arm, as long as he had life 
in him. I told him that I would not ask him to fight for me, 
but that I gratefully accepted his offered protection.” 

“And your Aunt Philippa — said you not, Nina, that you 
learned on the next day the meaning of her strange cry, ‘ I 
meant not that — I meant not that 

“ Ah yes. After keeping her chamber all day, and refusing 
to admit me when I would have gone in to her, saying that 
she was too ill to see any one but her maid, she came to me. 
And oh how shocked I was to see her ! It seemed as though 
she had added ten years to her life in that single day. 

‘“Don’t touch me, Nina, don’t touch me!’ she almost 
shrieked, when I had risen, and would have embraced her. 

“ ‘ Dear aunt,’ I began to say ; but she stopped me. 

I am not your dear aunt,’ she cried, ‘ but your destruction 
— your ruin. It is I who have done it all. Speak, girl !’ she 
went on, vehemently ; ‘ tell me you hate me — that yon spit 
upon me!* And then, overcome by the violence of her 
passion, my poor aunt sank to the floor, and fainted. 

“ I was so alarmed, Lysken, that I almost fainted too ; but, 
soon recovering, I called loudly for Ursel, who, with my aunt’s 


Ninds Story, 245 

maid, presently brought her to ; and then she dismissed the 
servant, saying that she desired to speak with me alone. 

“ ‘ Do you know what I have done, Nina she asked. 

“ ‘ I can but guess from your words, aunt, that it is you 
who have betrayed my dear father,’.! answered. 

“ And so it was. I need not tell you in full, but thus it 
was in brief ; Urged on by her father confessor, and also by 
a strong personal dislike to the pastor, Junius, who, under 
different disguises, which my aunt had penetrated, had often 
lodged at our house, she had secretly given information of his 
being expected in Antwerp on the previous evening, and of 
the probability that he would take up his abode with us as 
before, for the night. ‘ But,’ said Aunt Philippa, ‘ I gave this 
information on the solemn condition that your father should 
be held harmless. Alas ! alas ! and now I see that even 
priests are not to be trusted ! ’ 

“ I tlien asked my aunt, as calmly as I could, how she had 
found out that the pastor would be in Antwerp at such a time. 

“ ‘ I learned it from Catherine Behrend, the wife of the 
drysalter, who is one of the Reformed,’ said she, ‘ the woman 
being alarmed for the safety of her husband, and thinking it 
would be well if the shepherd were taken, so that the sheep 
might be scattered.’ ” 

“ The wretched traitor !” exclaimed Lysken, indignantly. 

“ My aunt said, moreover, that, unwilling to disclose the 
place of their meeting, which indeed she could herself only 
conjecture — and this because of my father’s safety — she had 
planned for the inquisitor to be at our house, awaiting their 
return. ‘And now,’ said she ‘ why do you not curse me, Nina ?’ 

“ ‘ I cannot do that, aunt. I will pray for you,’ I said. 

“‘lam your father’s murderer,’ said she, wringing her hands. 

“ ‘No ; that is only as God will,’ I was enabled to answer; 
‘and Twill pray to Him for my father.’” 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

The flesh weahj the Spirit willing:. 

tIE remainder of Nina’s story may be briefly told. 

It seemed that the merchant Franck and his 
handsome dwelling-house were prizes too great 
and important to be relinquished now that the 
grasp of the law was upon them. So, though 
nothing more important than his known sym- 
pathy and connection with the Reformed had 
as yet been brought against him in his first and 
second examinations, enough had transpired to 
sustain the officers of the Inquisition in having 
taken full possession of his property. Even 
Nina herself was in some danger of being sent 
to prison for refusing to answer certain inter- 
rogatories put to her by one of the officials. 
Probably, however, some compassion for bodily 
infirmity, or contempt for her weakness, saved 
her from this doom : but she was ordered to quit her father’s 
house. This, after hastily collecting her little personalties, 
she did, removing with Ursel to the mean apartment of Jan, 
the one-armed sailor, who, according to his promise, had 
previously presented himself to her in the quality of her 



247 


The Flesh weak ; the Spirit willhig. 

appointed protector ; and who eagerly entreated her to take 
refuge with him and his wife in a narrow street near to one 
of the canals. 

Nina and Ursel were not the only ejected members of the 
merchant’s family. Most of the servants were dismissed by 
the authorities without payment of wages due to them ; and 
though Aunt Philippa was permitted, as a faithful Catholic, 
to retain possession of her apartments, with a servant to 
attend her, she was given to understand that in case of the 
condemnation of her brother — of which there could be no 
doubt — the whole of his property now in the hands of the 
officers would be absolutely forfeited to the state. The 
sei vants of the Inquisition gave this information with evident 
satisfaction, and added that it would be wise in the lady to 
provide herself, as soon as convenient, with another home. 

The poor lady, however, had at that time little power left 
for making any effort either on her own behalf, or for the 
undoing of the mischief she had wrought upon her brother 
ana his family. Immediately after the interview with Nina, 
described in the former chapter, she had returned to her room 
in a state of frenzy bordering for a time upon madness. And 
when her mind, after a few hours, regained its equilibrium, 
her bodily strength suddenly failed, and she was scarcely 
able to rise from her couch. Nina would gladly have remained 
to comfort her aunt; but this was not permitted, and indeed, 
her presence would probably only have tended to a renewal 
of the unhappy woman’s previous agitation. In this condition, 
therefore, she was compelled to leave her aunt ; and this 
we also must do for a time, to follow the niece in her further 
adventures. 

“All the promises of God,” in Christ, “are Yea, and in Him, 
Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” These words are true. 
They have ever been found to be true by the persecuted saints 


248 


Within Sea Walls,, 


of God. Nina believed them fervently — believed that there 
could not be a promise found between the two boards of the 
Bible she had been enabled to rescue from its hiding-place 
in her father’s house, and to convey with her to her refuge, — 
not a promise which did not rightfully belong to her, individu- 
ally and personally, — because she was a child of God through 
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

It had, at one time, been difficult to Nina to realize this. 
It was difficult to understand. With the whole land reeking 
with the blood of martyrs, or scorched with the fires which 
had consumed them : — with the full knowledge that hundreds 
and thousands of the excellent of the earth and the favourites 
of heaven had expiated in tortures and death their faith and 
love and hope, — how could a weak girl understand, without 
.Divine teaching, — that all, all the promises of God to be 
found in His Word, were inviolably sealed home to all 
believers in Christ, as inalienably theirs } 

She was troubled by this weak faith of hers. She wanted 
to believe ; she would believe ; she did believe ; and the 
prayer one day had burst from her lips, “ Lord ! I do believe ; 
help Thou my unbelief!’* 

Not long after this sore struggle, and while turning over 
the leaves of that precious volume which, at rare intervals — 
rare, because of danger — she was permitted to have in her 
own hands, she lighted on these words: “Let no man glory ‘ 
in men. For all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, 
or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, 
or tjhings to come ; all are yours ; and ye are Christ’s ; and 
Christ is God’s.” 

“I have found I I have found!” cried Nina, as she paused 
here. “I understand it now. How foolish of me, that I 
understood it not before ! Life and death ; things present, 
and things to come ; all — all ; everything ; sufferings, perse- 


249 


The Flesh weak ; the Spirit willing. 

cutions, poverty, torture, death ; all, all are among those all 
things which are contained in those promises which in 
Christ are Yea, and in Christ are Amen, to the glory of 
God by us.” 

In these comparatively easy-going days of Christian pro- 
fession, the light and joy and liberty wiiich broke in upon 
Nina's soul in the reading and putting together of these 
Scriptures, may to some appear to have been fanatical. They 
were not so to her ; they were real, because she could under- 
stand now how all the promises of God centred in His glory, 
while they amply provided for the eternal welfare of His 
faithful ones. How could it be otherwise, when among those 
all things which belonged to the Christian, was death itself, — 
death, that last enemy to be destroyed ! death transformed 
into the Christian’s friend — the porter to the very gates 
of glory ! 

So, in her mean and uncomfortable place of refuge, — un- 
comfortable, at least, in all outward appurtenances, except in 
the faithful devotion of her nurse, her one-armed protector, 
and his homely wife, — when Nina opened her fathers rescued 
volume, and read these words : — “ But now thus saith the 
Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, 
O Israel, Fear not : for I have redeemed thee, I have called 
thee by thy name ; thou art Mine. When thou passest 
through the waters, I will be with thee : and through the 
rivers, they shall not overflow thee ; when thou walkest 
through the fire, thou shalt not be burned ; neither shall the 
flame kindle upon thee,” — she would feel assured that, with 
all faithful witnesses for Christ, she and her now imprisoned 
father had a personal interest in those wonderful promises — • 
that to them they were Yea and Amen (yes, so shall it be) 
in Christ Jesus ; and that therefore nothing could harm them. 
Nothing harm them } Nothing, when the cord and the stake 


250 


Within Sea Walls^ 


and the torch, which had destro}'ed so many, were ready for 
them also ? No, nothing — or what was the meaning of this 
promise — “ I will be with him in trouble ; I will deliver him 
and honour him ; with long life will I satisfy him, and show 
him My salvation?” 

These promises and their apparent non-fulfilment, according 
to the weak conceptions of sense, had puzzled and distressed 
Nina once; but, with her invigorated and enlightened faith, 
they puzzled her no more, for all things were theirs who 
loved Christ and His gospel ; all things ; life and death, 
things present, and things to come. It was not, then, to end 
in this world ; the grand fulfilment of the promises was re- 
served for the next. Most gladly, then, could she glory even 
i:i tribulation and distress and peril and persecution and 
nakedness of earthly resources, in the martyr’s flames, if so 
it might be, for these too were both in the promises and in 
the way to them. 

You will not be surprised that this new, at least this enlarged 
view of the privileges of every Christian, wonderfully inspirited 
the weak girl under the trial she was so suddenly, if not 
altogether unexpectedly, called to bear. It could scarcely 
be expected that Nina should be joyful in tribulation, seeing 
that it was her father who was in such jeopardy. Indeed, 
we know that no affliction is, for the present, joyous, but 
gricwous. But Nina’s faith did more than make her joyful ; 
it made her strong. The once timid and nervous, and some- 
what dreamy child, whose constitutional infirmity, combined 
with the luxury of wealth, had fostered inaction, now became 
the bold and energetic woman. The power of faith seemed, 
indeed, to re-act upon her body, for, to her own astonishment, 
she was able to move from her couch and endure exertion 
of which, at any former time, she would have deemed herself, 
and been deemed by all around her, incapable. 


251 


Tlte Flesh weak ; the Spirit willing. 

And as her faith did not tell her that because God was 
on her side and her father’s side, there was nothing for her 
to do ; but as it rather gave her encouragement and spirit 
to work, seeing that He was working, and would work with 
her, Nina daily, and for many hours a day, employed herself 
in waiting on those former friends of her father whom she 
judged would have influence in the state to procure his release. 
She went to one burgomaster after another to entreat their 
aid. She presented herself at the gate of the prison in which 
her father was confined, and was admitted to him, but not 
to waste moments, which were too pre<“ious to be lost, in 
useless lamentations, or even in soft endearments, but to take 
his instructions, and to bear messages to any who might be 
disposed to bear testimony in his favour. 

Rebuff after rebuff did poor Nina sustain in the course of 
her three or four days’ wearisome labours in the city. She 
found, as others have found, the truth conveyed in the words 
of the poet: 

“The friends who in our sunshine live, 

When winter comes, are gone; 

And they who have but tears to give, 

Must weep those tears alone.” 

Nina, however, was too firmly sustained, and had too much 
to do, to have time for giving tears, except perhaps in the 
short summer nights, when no one but her God was by ; and 
she bore very meekly, but with none the less fortitude for 
that, the defection of friends too cautious and prudent to be 
mixed up in the affairs of an acknowledged heretic, and, pro- 
bably, a suspected traitor. 

After a second visit to the prison in which her father was 
confined, Nina was told by the governor that the prisoner 
(for some reason unknown or unexplained) was to be removed 
the next day to Ghent, there to undergo a more formal trial, 


252 


Within Sea Walls, . 


to which his previous examinations had been only preliminary. 
Nina was not surprised at this intimation. It was common 
enough for the prisoners of the Inquisition to be shifted from 
place to place, in some cases to baffle the inquiries of their 
friends, and in 'others to secure a more easy condemnation. 

But if not surprised, for a moment Nina’s resolution failed 
her. It was but for a moment, however. The Lord Jehovah 
was in Ghent as well as in Antwerp ; and still He was calling 
on her to work for her father’s life and liberty. 

“ I can do no more here,” said she, in self-communing ; “ and 
if I go to Ghent whom do I know there } If, indeed, my 
uncle Gerard were there — but he is as timid as the rest, and 
were he not, he is now in Leyden. In Leyden ! And there 
lives Margaret’s lover and afflanced husband, of whom I 
dreamed. Strange, that in these four days past I have not 
once thought of him ! And will he not help me ? And my 
sweet cousin Lysken, too ! If she help me no further than 
with her love, I am sure that will not be wanting.” 

And so, with her mind hastily made up, yet, may we say, 
divinely directed } did Nina return to her lowly refuge, and 
announce her determination of proceeding the next day to 
Leyden, on a visit to her cousin and in search of aid for her 
imprisoned father. 

“ I have a brother in Leyden,” said Jan, nothing doubting 
that wherever his ward went he was to be in her train, which 
sentiment of devotion to Nina’s interests and safety he ex- 
pressed in other words. 

** But, Jan,” said Nina, sadly, “ I haye no means of repaying 
you for all this kindness.” 

“I say not so,” he rejoined ; “or rather, I am already over- 
paid. And, payment or no payment, my word is passed. 
Said I not to my honoured master that you should have one 
faithful servant while Jan lives?” 


The Flesh weak ; the Spirit willing, 253 

So, without further words, preparations were made for the 
voyage; and on the following day Nina, her nurse, and Jan, 
embarked in a low-built Dutch galliot, and, as we have seen, 
reached Leyden in safety. 

It is not necessary to our story to give the particulars of 
the interview on the following morning between Nina and 
her friend the advocate, further than to say that Merula 
undertook the defence of Floris Franck with abundant zeal, 
and departed that very day for Ghent, leaving Nina the guest 
of her cousin — for no long space of time, however, for, anxious 
to be near her father, even if forbidden to hold intercourse 
with him, as was to be feared, she, with her two faithful 
followers, re-embarked a few days afterv/ards in a coasting 
vessel bound for Bergen-op-zoom, whence she proposed to 
proceed onward, as she might best be able, to Ghent. She 
was provided by the young printer, Hans, with a letter to his 
mother, the widow Van Muler, who yet remained in that 
city, carrying on her old occupation. In this letter the young 
lady was commended to the care of the pious lace-worker, 
not only as . the cousin of her friend Lysken, but as a sister 
in the common faith, and a sufferer in the common and wide- 
spread persecution. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

The J^ourer of Faith — Hew Friends. 

INA’s voyage was accomplished without difficulty, 
and in due time she found herself in the vicinity 
of the large church and belfry tower in which 
her uncle had formerly performed sweet music, 
and near which lived the widow Van Muler. 
In Ghent, as in Leyden, and Antwerp, and 
Brussels, and every city and town of the Nether- 
lands, the influence of despotic tyranny was 
plainly visible. No cheerful countenances were 
to be seen in the streets. The artizans, as in 
dogged silence they went to or returned from 
their labour, trod heavily and laggardly on the 
pavements, as though borne down with care ; 
and the shopkeepers in their shops looked 
gloomily on their customers, who on their side 
wasted but few words in bargaining for the 
commodities they were compelled, and had the means, to 
buy. No wonder. Few words were best, where a stray or 
unguarded expression in words, and almost even in looks, 
might have cost the unwary offender his liberty and his goods, 
if not his life. 




Nina’s visit to the widow van mulbr. 






257 


The Power of Faith — JSIew Friends, 

Without interruption, however, Nina and her followers 
presented themselves to the widow ; and as soon as she had 
glanced at her son’s letter, which she did as the strangers 
yet stood at the door, she exclaimed, in the language of 
Scripture, “Come in, thou blessed of the Lord ; why.standest 
thou without?” Accompanying this invitation by throwing 
the door open wide, so that all might enter, she tenderly 
embraced the delicate girl, and made haste to place refresh- 
ments before all her guests. After this, arrangements were 
soon made for their lodgings. Nina and her faithful nurse 
were to remain under the widow’s roof ; and the equally 
faithful Jan was conducted by the widow’s youngest son, 
Galeyn, now a stout dad, to a safe retreat in the family of a 
poor Protestant near at hand, who for the love of Christ would 
have shared his last crust with a brother in the faith. There 
was no need for this, however, since Jan had some portion of 
his late master’s bounty in his present possession ; and the 
purse of his young mistress was not yet exhausted. 

From her aged hostess Nina received confirmation, if con- 
firmation were needed, of the dismal condition of this once 
flourishing and happy country. Commerce declining, manu- 
factures decaying, industry paralyzed, confidence destroyed. 
This was everywhere the burden of every tongue ; for these 
were the only complaints which might be safely uttered. But 
there were deeper lamentations than these, which could only 
be whispered between those who were known to be among 
the faithful, and who were sharers in each others’ sorrows. 
For these lamentations there were plentiful materials; but 
there were those whose eagle-eyed faith pierced beyond the 
clouds which overcast the spiritual sky, and eiidured as seeing 
Him who is invisible. The widow Van Muler was one of 
these, and wonderfully was Nina’s faith strengthened and her 
hope in\ igorated while she listened to the aged woman, who, 

s 


258 


Wit/lin Sea Walls, 


while busily pursuing the occupation by which she obtained 
her scanty subsistence, talked on in such terms as these : — 

“ My dear young sister, the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 
Clouds and darkness are round about Him ; but righteousness 
and judgment are the habitation of His throne. We see not, 
for we are blind ; we hear not, for we are deaf ; we understand 
not, for we are weak-minded and fearful. Here we know 
only in part ; we see through a glass, darkly. But, for all 
this. He who sitteth in the heavens laughs, and He has perse- 
cutors in derision. He will overturn, overturn, overturn ; but 
to His kingdom there shall be no end. He makes the wrath 
of man to praise Him ; the remainder of it He restraineth. 
He hath already whet His sword; Ha hath bent His bow; 
He hath made His arrows ready against the persecutors. If 
they turn not, they shall be utterly destroyed ; but those who 
trust in Him shall endure for ever. The souls of those who 
have been slain for the testimony of Jesus,” — here the widow’s 
voice for a moment faltered, for she thought of her martyred 
husband ; but she soon regained firmness and strength, — 
“ those souls are crying day and night, from the foot of the 
altar, ‘How long. Lord! how long.?’ — and shall not God 
avenge His own elect.? I tell you He will avenge them, and 
that right speedily. Oh, blessed, thrice blessed, are they who 
endure ; for they who endure to the end shall be saved. To 
him that overcometh shall be given to sit down on the throne 
of Christ, even as He overcame, and is for ever seated on the 
throne of God the Father. Amen, even so let it be. Lord ; 
amen, amen I” 

It was almost impossible that Nina should listen to these 
rapturous strains, couched, as they for the most part were, 
in the very words of inspired prophecy, without catching some 
of the sacred fire which burnt in the speaker’s bosom. Nay 
as face answereth to face in a glass, so did the soul of Nina 


The Power of Faith — New Friends. 259 

answer to that of her aged friend, to whom she believed she 
had verily been sent, that her love and faith and hope might 
be more stirred up. Doubtless she had heard these inspiriting 
trumpet-sounds once and again from the mouths of such men 
as the pastor Junius and Guy Regis, the bold evangelist ; but 
they were men. While here was a weak, poor, aged woman, 
— weak in herself and in her sex, — one, moreover, who had 
passed through deep waters of trial and affliction, and yet 
who could triumph in God her Saviour, and count her life not 
dear to her, so she might win Christ, and be found in Him! 
While gazing on the glowing countenance of the poor widow, 
and listening to her words, Nina could but think of those 
glorious women of old of whom she had heard, who had 
themselves been tortured, not accepting deliverance, because 
they looked for a better resurrection. 

Even poor Ursel, who sat by in attendance on her mistress, 
could but catch some of the sacred fire. Ignorant as she was, 
and angry as she had at times been, and sore as she even 
now felt at the teachings and preachings which had brought 
her master to prison, and were leading him on, as it seemed, 
to a shameful end, and which had deprived her mistress and 
herself of all the comforts of a luxurious home, and driven 
them to take shelter in one mean dwelling after another — 
even Ursel, on parting with the aged hostess that night, to 
share with her young mistress the widow’s own chamber, 
which was given up to them, embraced her heartily, and 
begged to be remembered by her in her prayers. 

The following morning found the whole household early 
astir, and commencing the labours of the day with illegal 
devotions, — illegal, because it was the performance of religious 
worship in a private house,— and then they separated ; the 
widow’s two lads, Kloos and Galeyn, departing to the factory 
in which they had obtained employment. Later in the 


26 o 


Within Sea Walls. 


morning Nina, accompanied by the widow, bent her steps to 
the house of a magistrate near the Vrydags Markt, who was 
reported to be secretly favourable to the Reformed, and from 
whom it was hoped that Nina might obtain permission to 
visit her father. 

, There was little difficulty in obtaining audience of this 
magnate, although, on hearing their errand, he shook hjs head 
gravely and portentously. 

“ Were the prisoner a thief, or a rogue and vagabond, or 
even a murderer,” said he, “there would be little difficulty in 
the matter — but a heretic ! That is another affair altogether, I 
promise you.” Then, seeing the discouraging effect produced 
by these words on the meek and patient and pallid counten- 
ance of the young suppliant, he added, “ But rest you here 
till I see what may be done, — or rather, not here, but follow 
me into my house ;” — for he had received them in a small 
room fitted up, as it seemed, to serve the purpose either of 
a magistrate’s office or a merchant’s counting-house. Himself 
explaining this, and volunteering the information that he 
dealt largely in groceries of various kinds, and that trade 
was very different from what it formerly had been, because 
of the troubles that were abroad, he led his two visitors through 
large and lofty warehouses piled with bales and boxes, then 
ascended a flight of stairs to an upper story, where, opening 
a door, he introduced the widow and Nina to two gentle- 
looking ladies, who were seated at needlework in a handsome 
apartment near to an open window, looking down upon one 
of the principal streets of the city. 

A few whispered words to the elder of these ladies called 
up on her comely countenance a pitying expression, which 
was intensified and combined with admiration, when she had 
looked steadily for a moment at the younger of the visitors. 
Rising from her seat with alacrity, this lady approached Nina, 


The Power of Faith — Ne%v Friends. 261 

and bestowed upon her a loving and maternal caress, whisper- 
ing in her ear to be of good comfort. Then she turned to 
the widow with a smile of recognition, saying, “We have 
met before.” 

And so indeed they had ; though the poor vrouw Van 
Muler little knew or thought that the carefully muffled and » 
coarsely clad stranger, whom she had many times met at the 
private meetings of the Protestants in various parts of the 
city — when a price would have been set on every worshipper, 
had a discovery been made of their proceedings, — and the 
wife of the rich merchant and burgomaster Lippershay, were 
one and the same person. 

.There was no time, however, had this been the right oc- 
casion, for expressing surprise at this discovery ; for, without 
further waiting, the lady led her guests to the younger female, 
whom she introduced as her daughter, and who appeared to 
be about the age of Nina, by the name of Paulina. 

There is a freemasonry in youth, and loveliness of dis- 
position, and gentleness of breeding, which none can understand 
or enter into but those who possess those qualifications. These 
two young persons, however, did possess them, and ere manv 
minutes had passed away they understood each other better 
than two others of an opposite temperament would have done 
after an acquaintance of as many days, or even weeks. And 
while the lady of the house and her widowed visitor were 
seated together, conversing in low tone and serious, on matters 
connected with what the poor widow was glad to find was 
of common interest with them, widely apart as were their 
outward circumstances, the two young women were equally 
disposed to mutual confidence. In a short time Nina had 
spoken of her home in Antwerp, now her home no longer, 
— of her sisters, happily escaped from the storm of persecution, 
— of her dear sweet cousin Lysken (of whom Paulina had 


262 


Within Sea Walls. 


heard), — and last, but not least, of her errand in Ghent, and 
her imprisoned father. 

“ And think you,” she asked, when she saw that her new 
friend’s eyes were glistening with sympathy, “ that your father 
will be able to procure my admission to the prison 

“Never fear, Nina,” said the other. “My father is often 
compelled to put on a stern look, and to speak hard words ; 
yet, believe me, there is not a kinder heart in all Ghent than 
is his. You would believe me, did you know one half the 
good deeds which I know he does in private ; and . I know 
but a small part of them. But we will not talk of this, and 
as it may be some time ere he returns, you shall see my 
flowers.” 

Nina had already had time to look round the apartment 
in which they were seated, and to observe the various appli- 
ances for comfort and luxury with which it was ornamented. 
Those were days, indeed, in which many things that would 
now be deemed luxurious were uninvented ; but probably 
there was not a country in Europe in which comfort was 
more generally appreciated than in Holland and the neigh- 
bouring states. And the riches which successful and wide- 
spread commerce had for many years poured into the coffers 
of the merchant - princes of those countries had largely 
encouraged the taste for embellishment and display, which 
were so manifest to all observers. 

The merchant Baldwin Lippershay had not escaped the 
almost universal contagion of this household extravagance. 
Pictures, tapestry, rich carpets, china ornaments, heavy and 
costly furniture, proclaimed alike his wealth and his taste, and 
also reminded Nina of her lost home. Above all else, however, 
his flowers were his choice treasures. The tulipomania, which 
in the seventeenth century made Holland and the Netherlands 
so famous in the chronicles of gambling, had not indeed 


263 


The Power of Faith — New Friends. 

broken out in the time of our narrative ; but its germ, though 
unseen and unsuspected, was in the inordinate love even 
then lavished upon rare specimens of both native and foreign 
flowers. 

“You shall see my flowers,’* said Paulina Lippershay, as 
she rose and led Nina by the hand into a conservatory into 
which the drawing-room opened. 


% 




CHAPTER XXXIIL • 

In frisan. . 

INA had a tender loving regard for flowers. 
They had been her solace from childhood, and 
while her infirmities had debarred her from the 
active enjoyments of life and society, she had 
derived not only pleasure but profit from the 
^ cultivation and careful tending of the floral 
treasures with which, partly for her sake, her 
father s conservatory had been abundantly sup- 
plied. Now, however, her thoughts were too 
exclusively exercised with anxiety on her 
father’s account, to pay much regard to the 
beauties of Flora with which she found herself 
surrounded ; and after a little while her con- 
versation with Paulina returned to the same 
channel from which it had momentarily been 
diverted. 

This conversation was soon interrupted, however, by the 
return of Paulina’s father, who had donned his official robe, 
and declared himself ready to accompany Nina to the prison 
where her father was confined. He had not been idle in the 
interval which had elapsed, — having himself gone to the 



In Prison. 


265 

principal officer of the Inquisition in the city, and, with 
some difficulty, obtained an order for admission to the state 
prisoner. 

“ I can take but one visitor with me,” he explained, as the 
widow Van Muler rose to accompany Nina; “you must 
therefore, vrouw, entrust your young friend with me, and 
wait here till our return. I will take care that she comes 
to no harm.” Saying this, the good-natured burgomaster 
invited the weak girl — weak in body, but strong in mind 
and resolution — to take his arm ; and thus supported, Nina 
passed out into the street, and was conducted to the prison. 

The prison was at no great distance from the burgomaster’s 
house, and no long time elapsed before Nina and her new 
and stout protector were within its strong, hard walls. 

“ See,” said Baldwin Lippershay, as the two passed through 
an outer courtyard, leading to the governor’s apartments ; 
“is it not as I told you } These prisoners,” — pointing to a 
number of men who, within the limits of the high outer wall, 
were amusing themselves, or whiling away the time, in a 
variety of boyish games, — “ these prisoners are but common 
malefactors awaiting their trial. Among them are swindlers, 
thieves, housebreakers, forgers, with here and there one under 
suspicion of being a murderer. These are allowed as much 
liberty as is consistent with safe keeping, and may see their 
friends when they will. But for such as your father there is 
no compassion and no indulgence, my poor child. Even his 
advocate has to pass through many forms, and is restricted 
in the number and length of his visits. It is best to tell you 
this now,” added the burgomaster, “ that you may be the less 
disturbed at any change you may perceive in your father.” 

“Has he been — is he, then — ill Oh, I knew not that!” 

exclaimed Nina, piteously. 

“Nay, I say not that; but close and solitary confinement 


266 


Within Sea Walls, 


tells upon the hardiest ; but cheer up, my child ! let us hope 
that ere long your father may be restored to liberty and his 
brave young daughter.” 

“You spoke of his advocate, sir,” continued Nina; “is he 
yet in Ghent ?” 

“I know not; but here we are at the governor’s rooms. 
I will but speak to him and show him my authority for your 
admission, and return to you anon. Sit you here, dear child, 
the while,” said the magistrate, tenderly, as he pointed to a 
stone bench close under the wall, and partly overshadowed 
by a sickly linden tree. 

Obedient to his suggestion, Nina seated herself, and 
adjusted the deep veil so as to hide her face from the prying, 
curious glances of one and another of the wretched prisoners 
who had the liberty of the yard. She was glad of the slight 
repose thus granted to her, for at her first entrance within 
the prison walls her fortitude had nigh given way ; and 
she needed, as she felt, to summon up all the strength of 
mind she possessed for the coming interview. Her father 
must not see that she was cast down with overmuch sorrow — 
so she argued ; and though it was hard to simulate hope- 
fulness where there were so few grounds for hope, he should 
see nothing in his daughter’s bearing to add affliction to 
his bonds. 

What could she do better than lift up her soul in secret 
ejaculatory prayer to Him who is able to deliver, and to help 
in every time of need ? What so well } It is the privilege 
of every true child of God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
however humble or obscure, or down-trodden or down-hearted, 
to “ come boldly to the throne of grace, that ” — he or she — 
“ may seek mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” 
Nina knew this, and she believed it. ’ She knew also where, 
in that replete treasury of petitions provided in the Old 


In Prison, 


267 

Testament Psalms, for all heart-faint and tongue-locked souls, 
— to find the very prayer which then trembled in her heart — 
and thus her heart cried : — 

“ Let the sighing of the prisoner come before Thee ! Ac- 
cording to the greatness of Tliy power, preserve Thou those 
that are appointed to die I And render unto our neighbours 
seven-fold into their bosom, their reproach wherewith they 
have reproached Thee, O Lord ! So we, Thy people and 
sheep of Thy pasture, will give Thee thanks for ever; we 
will show forth Thy praise to all generations.” 

** Methinks this little rest has revived you, my child,” said 
the burgomaster, in his pleasant fatherly voice, when he 
rejoined Nina, and had glanced for a moment at her coun- 
tenance when she raised her veil. 

“ I feel much stronger, sir,” said Nina. 

“That is well. And now our friend the governor will 
conduct us to your father.” The magistrate waved his hand 
as he spoke to a grave and saturnine ofificial in military 
uniform, who, on being thus alluded to, bowed courteously 
to Nina. 

“ I am grieved,” said he, “ that my instructions limit your 
interview with the prisoner to half an hour.” 

“ Short time, short time, that !” said the burgomaster ; 
“ there was a time when we magistrates had the ordering 
of these things ; but times are changed, it seems.” 

“ It is a very short time, sir,” said Nina, meekly. 

“ I am sorry,” said the ofificial ; “ but it is as much as my 
place is worth to disobey the orders of my superiors.” 

“Well, lead on, sir,” said the honest burgomaster, with a 
dissatisfied groan. 

And the three passed under the gloomy and forbidding 
archway of the old prison house. There was ah unlocking 


268 


Within Sea Walls. 


of doors, a grating of iron bolts, a creaking of rusty hinges. 
Their feet grew chilly cold by treading on the damp stone 
paving of numerous corridors ; and their footsteps echoed 
in the groined arches beyond and above. They descended 
many steps, the atmosphere becoming murkier, and the light 
dimmer as they went on. With a slight stretch of imagi- 
nation, it might have been called the dark valley of the 
shadow of death ; for to how many had it, in fact, been the 
last passage on earth ? Happily, Nina did not think of this ; 
her father was all she could think of then ; and presently she 
was ushered into a dark cell, and in another instant was in 
her father’s arms. 

No very long time had elapsed since she saw him last. 
Not a month ago, she sadly remembered, he and she were 
in their own home, rejoicing in the thought of a speedy 
departure from the unhappy country which had become a 
very Aceldama — a field of blood. Later still she had bidden 
him a sorrowful adieu in the prison of her native city; and 
yet, in the short space of time which had intervened, how 
great a change had passed over him ! 

“Father, dear father!” she cried, as she clung to him, and 
laid her throbbing head on his dear breast. 

And yet she was the first to recover sufficient composure 
to speak calmly and collectedly. 

“ I am not come to shed tears, father,” she said, “ but to 
receive your commands. Tell me, what more can I do.?” 

“You can do nothing more, dear Nina,” said the captive, 
gently smoothing down her soft hair, and kissing her forehead 
again and again. “Nothing more,” he added, “but to take 
care of your health, and to cast your care on Him who careth 
for you. All wixl be well in the end, my Nina.” 

“ I am sure of that father,” said Nina, firmly, though some- 
what mournfully. 


{{IMA’S interview with her father. 















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In Prison. 


271 

“You think that the end may be far off, and that the night 
may yet be darker before morning dawns V* 

“I fear so, father, — oh, dear father!” and once more Nina’s 
courage was on the brink of giving way, as she looked up 
into his sickly, pallid face, and around on the damp, dark 
stone walls of the dungeon. 

“Look up higher, still higher, Nina,” said the prisoner, 
smiling encouragingly. “There is heaven above all. It is 
only here, around our poor, mean world, that clouds gather. 
Heaven is above the clouds, my darling.” 

“ I know it, father, and yet ” 

“And you have done excellently well, my Nina,” he went 
on ; “ you could not have done better than in sending to me 
our good friend from Leyden ” 

“ Oh, 1 had forgotten for the moment, father,” cried Nina ; 
eagerly adding, “ Is he now in Ghent t ” 

“ He left me yesterday ; he is now in Antwerp, and he 
thinks and hopes — but I hardly dare to raise your ex- 
pectations.” 

“Nay, tell me. I can bear to hear good news, believe me.” 

“ I am not sure that the news is good, save that all Is. good 
which God sends. But he says that the charges against me 
are slight, while some evidences in my favour, which, however, 
I think too slight a foundation to build upon, may procure 
my acquittal, and restore me to my family.” 

.“Does he say this, father? Then I will believe it. And 
the — the trial — when will that be ? ” 

“1 cannot say, Nina.” 

“Will it be in open court ?” she asked, timidly. 

“Were I accused of murder, it would undoubtedly be in 
open court ; but you forget, Nina, I am a prisoner of the 
Inquisition.” 

In hurried speech like this on either side, the half-hour 


2J2 


Within Sea Walls, 


was soon exhausted ; and fondly embracing each other, the 
father and daughter parted, not knowing when, if ever on 
earth, they might be permitted to meet again. And many 
such meetings and partings were witnessed in that unhappy 
land in those days. 

Burgomaster Lippershay benevolently abstained from in- 
terrupting the thoughts of the maiden as they passed from 
the prison to his house ; and arriving there he would fain 
have administered a cordial which he pronounced to be most 
effectual in raising the dejected spirits of mourners. She 
declined this, however, with many thanks, while she found 
a more genial cordial in the sympathy and love of the burgo- 
master s lady and their fair daughter. 

“I have been telling our good friend,” said the former, 
speaking of the vrouw Van Muler, *‘that she, in her small 
abode (though her heart is large enough), must be incon- 
venienced by entertaining you and your old servant, — nay, 
do not reply,” she said, with a kindly gesture, “for it is all 
arranged, — is it not, Paulina.?” 

“ Indeed it is,” said the young lady ; “ and you are to be 
my dear companion and friend, if you will.” The kindness 
was unexpected ; indeed, there was more than simple kindness, 
for some risk might be involved, in receiving as an inmate 
the daughter of one who was accused of heresy. Yet, after 
all, it was perhaps the best that could have happened to 
Nina; for the present resources were not boundless by any 
means, and as she was determined not to quit Ghent until 
after her fathers fate was determined, and no one could 
judge how long his trial might be delayed. Added to these 
considerations was another. In the house of the burgomaster, 
Nina would be assured of those attentions which it was utterly 
out of the power of her humble friend to give, however strong 


In Prison, 


VS 

her disposition to generous kindness; and she would have 
the solace of such society as she had all her life been ac- 
customed to, but from which under the widow’s roof she 
would necessarily be shut out. It was not with Nina, however, 
but with her friend, that this consideration had weight. 

“ I see that you both consent,” said the burgomaster’s 
wife ; “ remain therefore with us now ; and as we deal with 
you, my dear child, may God deal with us.” 

“ Let it be so,” said the weeping Van Muler, as she embraced 
the still undecided girl; “and I will bring Ursel with me in 
the afternoon.” 

And so it was settled ; and in the after part of the day, 
Nina was rejoined by her faithful old attendant, who rejoiced 
that her pet was once more in what she would have called 
her right and proper station. It should be added also that 
the burgomaster was so well satisfied with the plans which 
his wife and daughter had laid without his concurrence, that 
on hearing of Jan, as the self-constituted body-guard of Nina, 
he sent for him, and gave him some light employment in his 
warehouses, such as he had previously been accustomed to, — 
in order that he might be near his young mistress. 



T 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 


|Iunt fhilippa's fetiitence. 

UR readers will not have forgotten the Beguinage, 
and the nun Margaret in her convent cottage ; 

‘ and to this quiet retreat we must now betake 
ourselves. 

It was several weeks after the incidents re- 
corded in the preceding chapter, that as Margaret 
was about to close her outer door for the night, 
she was alarmed by the sight of two persons on 
its threshold. It was some time after sunset, 
but the full moon had risen, and lighted up the 
neat gardens and picturesque gabled dwellings 
around them, while it cast the shadows of the 
two intruders far across the enclosure. 

By this light, Margaret perceived that one of 
these intruders* was in the ordinary costume of 
a Spanish soldier, for the moonbeams glistened on the em- 
broidery of his coat, his steel scabbard and helmet ; while his 
companion was a woman, thickly muffled, so that scarcely 
any portion of her countenance was visible. 

“ You know me not, mother,” said the soldier, in a guarded 
tone, as he perceived the affright he had given ; “ but be 



Aunt Philippa! s Penitence. 275 

sure no harm is intended you. Peace be within this house ! 
May we enter, mother?” 

The nun silently made way ; and then, when the door was 
carefully closed, the soldier removed his casque, and disclosed 
to the agitated woman, — her own son Guy, the proscribed 
heretic. 

“Guy, Guy, I knew thee not in this disguise,” she said, 
after she had tenderly embraced him with many tears. 

“ It is well that it is so complete,” said he ; “ it has stood 
me in good stead many times ere now, and may again, if God 
will. But guess you my errand now ?” 

The Beguine looked at the muffled female, who had with- 
drawn to some little distance from the mother and son, and 
had, as it seemed from weariness, seated herself until the first 
greetings should be over. It was a strange look of suspicion 
and renewed alarm which the nun bestowed upon this 
uninvited guest, as she drew her son somewhat more aside, 
and whispered in his ear : 

“Thou hast not done as the monk Luther did, when he 
threw off the pope and became a Reformer ? Thou hast not 
done this, Guy ? That woman is not thy wife ?” 

The ex-monk smiled. “Dismiss your fears, mother,” he 
said, in the same low tone ; “ this is not the time to speak, or 
even to think of such matters ; but rest you content : I am 
not married.” Then he added, in a more cheerful and natural 
voice : — “ This lady is Madam Philippa, wife’s sister of the 
great merchant, Floris Franck of Antwerp, whom you have 
now in your prison at Ghent. The good lady wishes to be 
near her brother, in his sorrow^ and peril ; and I ask you, in 
God’s name, mother, to give her refuge.” 

“ Ay, will I,” said the Beguine, cheerfully and with alacrity, 
as she hastened, with like speed, to embrace the stranger, and 
to help remove the wrapping she had worn in travelling. 


Within Sea Walls. 


276 

A great change had passed over the Aunt Philippa of our 
former chapters in the short time which had elapsed since we 
there met with her. The discipline of severe outward trial, 
but more especially the severity of mental and spiritual 
conflict, had subdued the haughtiness of her demeanour, while 
it had, at the same time, laid low the loftiness of her 
imaginations. And perhaps it will be as convenient here, as 
elsewhere, to sketch, curre7ite calamo, with a rapid pen, the 
course of events in which this lady was concerned, while we 
have been necessarily engaged with the important affairs of 
her niece Nina. 

In the solitude of her own chamber, after the departure of 
her niece, the unhappy woman at first gave herself up to the 
reproaches of her conscience. She had, in her blind and 
personal spite against one whom she disliked, brought distress, 
if not ruin upon those whom she loved, and placed one of 
these in imminent peril of martyrdom. It added to her 
remorse that her dislike to the pastor Junius (who had 
escaped her malice) was founded on personal pique rather 
than on a sense of religious duty ; for she had even then 
become half-convinced, though sorely against her will, that 
truth and justice were on the side of the Reformers. 

As days and weeks wore on. Mistress Philippa regained some 
degree of composure, — enough to enable her to reason, some- 
what calmly, on the course she had taken, and to give herself 
to an examination of questions which theretofore she had too 
readily taken for granted. In the course of this investigation, 
she accidentally — as it seemed to her — lighted on the paper 
which had once been put into her hand by one of her 
brother’s guests,— the ex-monk, Guy Regis, with whom she 
had afterwards become better acquained after the fatal fight 
and flight of Ostrawell, and the disturbances in Antwerp. 

Nothing could have been more opportune. She had no 


Aunt Philippa! s Penitence, 277 

quarrel with that man, save on the score of his apostasy, as 
she once would have termed his conversion to Protestantism ; 
and now, her better judgment told her that, so far from 
embracing new and erroneous doctrines, he, and those who 
believed with him, were but returning to the old paths and 
the good way, that they might walk therein. 

The more Mistress Philippa pondered, the more was she 
convinced of this ; and yet, with the perversity which some- 
times attaches to those of her sex who are proud in being 
thought and called “ strong-minded ” — she had an almost 
invincible repugnance to acknowledge, even to herself, that 
she could ever have been wrong or mistaken. 

While in this unhappy state of mind, and almost deserted 
by the few friends whom she had known, but who now 
avoided a house virtually in the hands of the Inquisition ; 
when, indeed, she knew not how soon her own tolerated abode 
there might be terminated ; and while, added to all this, her 
heart was racked by apprehensions respecting her brother and 
her niece, of neither of whom had recent tidings reached her; 
— just at this time the sole servant who had been left to wait 
upon her one evening put a scrap of paper into her hand, on 
which were a few words written. 

“Whence got you this.?” asked the dame, quickly, and in 
agitation. 

“The person who gave it to me is even now waiting an 
answer in the wood-shed in the yard,” said the girl. 

Mistress Philippa uttered a hasty exclamation, — “He will 
be seen by the spies in this house, Marie. But know you 
who the man is.?” she asked, yet more hastily, as though she 
would fain have covered her agitation with a veil of indifference. 

“Yes, my lady. He has soldier’s clothes on; but I know 
him to be the good minister who so often came here before 
my poor master was taken away.” 


Within Sea Walls. 


278 

«Ha! — mcthinks by your way that you are one of his 
secret disciples,” said the lady, sharply. 

“ I know not, madam, whether I be or no,” replied the girl ; 
“but is it your pleasure to give the poor man the hearing for 
which he asks?” 

“ What shall I do, girl ? He tells me here on this paper 
that he brings me tidings of my brother and my niece.” 

“ I would see him, were I you,” said Marie, promptly. 

“ But were he to come into the house — think of the danger !” 

“ I will bring him up by the back stairs, lady. I have the 
pass key in my pocket ; and the Inquisition men below will 
be none the wiser. They are sharp and clever, but they 
know not everything,” said the girl ; adding, that there would 
be more danger of his being found in the wood-shed than in 
her lady’s own room. 

This argument prevailed ; and Guy Regis was admitted. 
This was the first of many secret interviews he held with 
Madam Philippa, all in presence of Marie, who was worthily 
taken into their confidence ; and the officers of the Inquisition 
in the other part of the large mansion little dreamt that 
beneath the roof which sheltered them, the doctrines of the 
Reformation, or rather of the gospel; were being, from time 
to time, plainly set forth by one of the proscribed ministers of 
the prohibited faith, and eagerly listened to by a pair of silly 
women, as Marie and her mistress would have been called. 

From this pretended Spanish soldier did Madam Philippa 
obtain occasional information also respecting her brother and 
niece, through the wide-spread ramifications of secret in- 
telligence to which the leaders of the persecuted Protestants 
were compelled to resort. By these means, the almost con- 
verted lady was made aware of the strictness of the prisoner’s 
incarceration at Ghent, and of Nina having found an asylum 
in the house of the benevolent burgomaster. 


Aunt PJiilippcLS Penitence. ' 279 

We have just written, “the almost converted lady,” because 
it is one thing for the judgment to be convinced, and another 
for the soul to be brought into subjection to the humbling 
doctrines of the gospel. Madam Philippa had, by this time, 
experienced the former change ; but there was probably yet 
lacking the one thing without which all besides is of little 
avail. 

Leaving this, however, the lady’s anxiety to be near her 
brother and niece, and to seek assurance of forgiveness for the 
mischief she had wrought, determined her to abandon her 
present uncertain home, and reside in Ghent until after her 
brother’s trial. And she was the more moved to this that 
she might avoid the pertinacity of her Romish father confessor, 
who was ever seeking to entrap her into some unguarded 
admission respecting the religious practices of Floris Franck, 
which she was well aware would be used against him in his 
approaching trial. 

It was a matter of no difficulty for her to remove herself 
and her chattels to a small dwelling in the outskirts of the 
city, as an encumbrance was thus disposed of, and full 
possession of the merchant’s house was thus obtained by his 
enemies. It was more difficult for a female in those unsettled 
and suspicious times to adventure on an overland journey, 
even of a few miles, without a sufficient guard, if not state 
permission. This, however, by the help of Guy Regis, and 
his borrowed uniform, was safely accomplished — the lady 
riding on a pillion behind the guard and guide, on a strong 
Flemish horse, borrowed for the occasion ; and thus we have 
seen how and why the nun Margaret was called upon to show 
hospitality to a stranger. 

It should also be explained, in passing, that the garb of a 
Spanish soldier was at that time a sufficient guarantee (so 
long as the wearer was unsuspected) for security in travelling ; 


28 o Within Sea Watts. 

for were not Spanish soldiers masters then in that unhappy 
land ? 

The simple-hearted Beguine nun did not require so full an 
explanation of foregone events as we have felt it needful to 
give for the satisfaction of our readers. It was enough that 
her Christian charity was evoked for a sister in distress ; and 
after having placed refreshments before her guest, and pressed 
her to partake of them, she conducted her to a neat chamber, 
till then unoccupied, in the upper part of her cottage, and, 
commending her to the protection of Heaven, left her to her 
repose. 

Until long after midnight, the mother and son sat in close 
communion in the little tiled parlour of the cottage ; then, as 
the moon was declining westward, Guy Regis passed through 
the convent wicket gate without disturbing the portress, and 
was lost to his mother’s sight. 




CHAPTER XXXV. 

The Tribunal of Blond. 

I E shall not detain the reader by describing at 
large the meeting of Madam Philippa and her 
niece on the day following the arrival of the 
former in Ghent. It is sufficient to say that, 
subdued in spirit by sorrow and anxious care 
and remorse, the elder lady had never appeared 
to so great advantage in the eyes of the gentle 
Nina ; and the reconciliation was not only 
genuine, but complete. 

“ It will all be well, aunt ; all things will 
work, and are working, together for good," 
said the younger one. 

“ But if your dear father should perish by 
my baseness sobbed the elder lady. 

“ Even then, aunt — yes, even then, all will 
be well in the end." It required strong faith 
and strong effort in Nina to say this ; but her 
faith had been strengthened by trial. Then she added : 
“ But I will not think this. Master Merula gives great hope 
that my father will win through his trial, and come forth 
triumphantly ; and so also says Baldwin Lippershay." 



282 


Within Sea Wails. 


"And dear Floris — your father, Nina ?” 

" He says that he is in God’s hands ; and whether it be life 
or death, it will be for God’s glory. Oh ! aunt, would that 
you could see and hear him !” 

" Is he much worn down with this imprisonment and long 
waiting ?” 

" He is wonderfully supported, aunt,” said Nina. 

"Have you seen him often?” 

" Only once in every week,” said Nina, sadly ; " and then 
but for half an hour. He is permitted but one visitor at such 
times.’* 

" I would that I might see him,” said the elder lady. 

" You shall take my place to-morrow, aunt, and I will wait 
another week,” said Nina, yet not without a struggle very 
painful to be endured. 

This conversation took place in the house of the burgo- 
master, Lippershay, to which Madam Philippa had been con- 
ducted by the youth Ulric, previously mentioned in these 
pages. At the close of the interview, and when Nina had 
introduced her aunt to the ladies of the mansion, the burgo- 
master’s wife courteously invited the visitor to share with 
Nina in her husband’s hospitality. The house was large 
enough, she said, and she hoped their hearts were large 
enough also ; and, in short, a favour would be conferred upon 
them if Madam Philippa would consent to be their guest. 
The invitation, however, was declined with equal courtesy, 
and the sorrowing woman went back to her humble lodgings 
in the Beguinage, to return again on the morrow, when, under 
the protection of the magistrate, she visited her brother in 
his prison-house. It wanted but this, under Divine grace, to 
complete the work already commenced. There is a sorrow — 
the sorrow of the world — which worketh death ; but, blessed 
be God, there is also a sorrow not of the world, but a godly 


The Tribunal of Blood. 283 

sorrow, which worketh repentance unto life, not to be repented 
of. So it was with this distressed lady, who, if she entered 
the prison-walls almost persuaded to renounce the last tatters 
of the creed which yet hung about her, returned with a full 
determination, in the strength of God, and with His help, to 
take henceforth His Word for her directory, and to seek His 
Spirit’s teaching, and that alone. 

Other visits to the prison, and more frequent intercourse 
with her niece and the burgomaster’s family, and yet more 
constant intercommunion with the simple but pious Beguine, 
confirmed Madam Philippa in her new and scriptural views of 
religion. We must not linger over this part of our history, 
however. 

Other weeks and even months passed away, and Floris 
Franck was still a prisoner of the Inquisition. Doubtless he 
would have been brought to a more speedy trial, had evidence 
been forthcoming sufficient to condemn him : for unscrupulous 
as were the enemies of the Reformation, there were at. least 
some forms to be observed in the trial of heretics. And Floris 
Franck had been of such good repute, and was held in such 
high respect in Antwerp, that those who knew of his religious 
doings which were contrary to law, kept their knowledge to 
themselves, not caring to testify against him. Even the 
seiwants of his household, who might have given evidence of 
religious worship having been performed under his roof by 
heretic teachers and preachers, held their peace. Much had 
been expected from the testimony of his sister-in-law, who had 
been* the means of his arrest ; but, as we have seen, this anti- 
cipation signally failed. Even the fact (which was well known) 
that the merchant had transported the greater part of his effects 
to England, intending to follow, could scarcely be looked upon 
as a crime, since there was no law against this kind of selfi 


Within Sea Walls. 


284 

banishment ; and hundreds of families had on various accounts 
left the country in like manner, subjecting themselves to all 
the inconveniences of a sojourn in foreign lands, without in- 
curring the suspicion of treason, or even of heresy. Happily, 
Floris Franck’s secret understanding with the Prince of 
Orange, and the letters which had passed between them, were 
matters concealed in his own breast. 

So, at last, failing in procuring more evidence than they 
already had obtained, namely, that the prisoner was gravely 
suspected of heretical practices contrary to law, and knowing 
that strong and adverse feelings had already been excited 
against them, on account of his long detention in prison, and 
being also urged on to action by remonstrances of the 
prisoner’s advocate at law — the board of inquisitors (or by 
whatever other name they might be called) proceeded reluc- 
tantly to bring Floris Franck to their bloody tribunal,” by 
which name their court was popularly known. 

It was pitiful to see, when the prisoner was brought into 
open ^c6urt and broad daylight, what ravages had been made 
by the harsh treatment he had received in prison. The stout 
upright form of Floris Franck had become attenuated and 
bowed, so that his garments hung loosely upon him. His 
once florid complexion had changed into a death-like pallor, 
tinged with an unearthly yellowness. His hair, formerly dark, 
was plentifully streaked with grey; and his sight — so long 
accustomed to the gloom of his prison cell — was blinded by 
excess of light, as he was conducted into the court, so that he 
stumbled and almost fell ere he could regain his footing. 

All this was seen by Nina, who could not be persuaded 
to remain in the burgomaster’s house during the trial of her 
father. 

“ Do not hinder me, dear friends,” she had said, pathetically 
pleading with the burgomaster’s wife and daughter when they 


The Tribunal of Blood. 285 

would have dissuaded her ; adding, “ I will go ; and if he bf 
to die, I will die with him.” 

So, under the protection of Baldwin Lippershay, the maiden 
entered the court, and took her seat by his side. 

It would have been more than she could have borne, to see 
her father so changed from what he once had been, had she 
not been partly accustomed to the alteration in her weekly 
visits to the prison ; and it was a sore and heavy trial to her 
when she saw him placed as a criminal at the bar of human 
law and justice. “ Law and justice !” No, no ; for “ law was 
perverted, judgment was turned away backward, justice stood 
afar off, pity was in a deep swoon, truth had fallen in the 
street, and equity could not enter. Yea, truth had failed ; 
and he that departed from evil had made himself a prey.” 
Nina knew this — knew that hundreds as guiltless as her father 
had borne the same reproach and suffered similar ignominy. 
But one thought sustained her. “ The disciple is not above 
his Master, nor the servant above his Lord. It is enough for 
the disciple that he be as his Master, and the servant as his 
Lord. If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, 
how much more shall they call them of His household ” 
Nina knew whose words these were, and where it is said, for 
the encouragement of all under persecution for righteousness* 
sake, — “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery 
trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing hap- 
pened unto you ; but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers 
of Christ’s sufferings ; that, when His glory shall be revealed, 
ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.*’ 

Calmly, then — with a calmness far transcending that of 
some heroines of old of whom she had read in ancient story, 
did Nina, while lifting up her heart to God — to God, who 
could perform all things for her father and herself— prepare 
her mind for the scene to be enacted in her presence. 



CHAPTER XXXVL 


The Trial and Escape. 

HE record against the prisoner set forth that he, 
in rebellion against the sovereign ruler of the 
Netherlands, had contumaciously disobeyed and 
set at nought the edict of the 14th of May, 
1567. In brief, the terms of the edict were 
these : — ^ 

Firstly. All ministers and teachers of the so- 
called Reformed doctrines were sentenced to 
the gallows. 

Secondly. All persons who had suffered their 
houses to be used for religious purposes were 
sentenced to the gallows. 

Thirdly. All parents or masters, whose chil- 
dren or servants had attended such meetings 
were sentenced to the gallows ; — the servants 
and children thus offending to be beaten with 
rods. 

Fourthly. All people who sang hymns at the burial of their 
relations were sentenced to the gallows. 

Fifthly. Parents who allowed their newly-born children to 
be baptized by other hands than those of the Catholic priest 















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were sentenced to the gallows. And the same punishment 
was denounced against the persons who should christen the 
child, or act as its sponsors. 

Sixthly. Schoolmasters who should teach any error or false 
doctrine were sentenced to the gallows. 

Seventhly. Those who infringed the statute against the 
buying and selling of religious books and songs were, after 
the first offence proved, sentenced to the gallows. 

Eighthly. All who sneered at, or otherwise insulted any 
ecclesiastic of the Catholic Church, were sentenced to the 
gallows. 

Ninthly. All vagabonds, fugitives, apostates, and runaway 
monks, were ordered forthwith to depart from every city, on 
pain of death. 

Finally. In all these cases, confiscation of the whole 
property of the criminal was to be added to the sentence 
of death. 

Called upon to plead to the accusation of having infringed 
this edict, the prisoner quietly and respectfully replied to 
the Chief Inquisitor, that the greater number of the charges 
contained in the edict could have no application to himself — 
he being neither a vagabond, nor fugitive, nor apostate, nor 
runaway monk, nor a minister or teacher, nor a schoolmaster, 
but a peaceable merchant and citizen of Antwerp, as was well 
known by the burgomasters and others of that city, some of 
whom were ready to give evidence to that effect. Further- 
more, his children, as could be shown by church registers, had 
been, in their infancy, baptized by no other hands than those 
of the Catholic priests. That he and his children had attended 
Protestant meetings for religious services, the prisoner ad- 
mitted ; but it was during the time of the Accord, when 
liberty of worship, according to the Reformed doctrines, was 

U 


290 


Within Sea Walls, 


permitted and legalized by the Duchess of Parma, as regent 
for the king. This, therefore, could be accounted no crime. 
With regard to having received heretical teachers into his 
house, he had only to say that, as a merchant, engaged in 
commerce, his house was the resort of great numbers of people 
on various matters of business ; and it was no part of his duty 
to inquire into their religion, and that if such teachers had 
visited him, they must have been in the ordinary costume 
of men engaged in the lawful business of life; and their 
disguise was a matter for which he held himself not answerable. 
Lastly, as regarded religious worship, he presumed that the 
law just quoted was not intended to prevent peaceable citizens 
from praying to God, since the Catholic Church required such 
prayers to be offered, and had prepared forms for the aid of 
such as needed them. And if his worship went beyond that, 
it was for the court to establish this fact by good evidence, 
and mercifully to instruct him as to wherein he had done 
wrong, that he might do so no more. 

Having thus meekly defended himself, the prisoner bowed 
respectfully, and humbly asked permission to be seated, his 
weakness being such that his legs would scarcely sustain him. 
This favour was granted him, as also that his advocate at law 
might be seated near him, the proceedings of the Inquisition 
not being then so strict in Holland, it would appear, as else- 
where. Then there was much whispering among the judges, 
five in number, and presently the president of the tribunal 
demanded of the prisoner to say whether the proscribed 
heretic minister Franciscus Junius had not frequently been 
harboured by him. 

And hereupon the advocate Merula rose, and declared that 
it was contrary to law and justice to question a prisoner 
respecting a matter of which he was accused, nor should he 
consent to his client answering either yea or nay. It was, he 


291 


The Trial and Escape. 

said, for the prisoner’s prosecutors to prove, if they were able, 
the things of which they had accused him ; and if they failed in 
this, his client was entitled to be set at liberty. He boldly 
added, that many innocent persons, as was well known, had, 
in their eagerness to clear themselves, hastily, but in good 
faith and honesty, answered questions thus put to them, which 
answers were afterwards twisted to their destruction. And, 
with his good will, the honourable merchant before the court 
should not be thus entrapped. 

The president looked darkly on the advocate. “ You are 
over zealous, sir,” said he ; but take your course now. There 
will be enough, I fancy, to condemn your honourable mer- 
chant, as you call the prisoner, without his own confession. 
Let the witnesses be called.” 

There were those present who marvelled as much at the 
judge^s compliance as at the advocate’s boldness. There were 
others, however, who knew that, even in those darkest days of 
spiritual despotism and illegal tyranny, there was a spirit in 
the people not altogether crushed ; and that those who were 
the willing instruments of that tyrannical despotism had at 
times to go warily to work, and to pay some kind of outward 
deference to those who stood up in defence of the indefeasible 
rights of the citizens of what had once been a free country. 

So certain witnesses were brought forward to prove they 
knew not what against the prisoner. They so contradicted 
each other, however, and were so skilfully cross-examined by 
the prisoner’s advocate, that though suspicion might be 
strengthened as to the misdoings (the misdoings, forsooth !) 
of the prisoner, nothing had been proved against him. 

It was for the prisoner’s advocate to rebut those suspicions 
if he could. This he did by witnesses, who had been brought 
from Antwerp. 

First came forward one, and another, and another, who 


292 


Within Sea Walls. 


soothly declared themselves to have been for many years 
neighbours of Floris Franck, and had known nothing of him 
inconsistent with true loyalty. They testified also to many 
deeds by which he had shown himself a true friend to his 
country and his countrymen. These witnesses being persons 
of known character, and of undoubted orthodoxy as regarded 
the Catholic Church, their evidence was unimpeachable. 

Next came two burgomasters of the city of Antwerp, who 
gave evidence respecting the zeal manifested by Floris Franck 
in restraining the fury of the mob when it broke out against 
images, and when the Cathedral Church at Antwerp was 
sacked, and all the images in it destroyed. They averred 
that the merchant then did good service to the Church, even 
at the hazard of his own safety and even life, in that by his 
personal efforts he withstood the violence which was being 
wrought, and prevented other mischiefs, which would other- 
wise have followed. 

The evidence of these two grave citizens was not without 
influence in the court. The judges again turned to each 
other, and all, save one, put on more placable countenances. 
A few more questions were then put to the witnesses ; but 
these only brought out in more distinct features the good 
deeds of the prisoner on that eventful day. 

“ Have you any other witnesses to produce ?” asked the 
president of the advocate, when the burgomasters were 
dismissed. 

Yes, one more ; for at a motion from the advocate came 
tottering forward an aged priest, bearing in his arms a mys- 
terious case or package, which he reverently placed before 
him on the table, eyeing it with much affectionate regard 
the while. 

What had he to say } the old priest was asked. 

He had this to say ; — his name was Adrian, a monk of 


293 


The Trial and Escape, 

St. Dominic, as was well known by many in Antwerp. He 
had been confessor to the prisoner’s — the burgher Franck’s 
— deceased wife, and thus well knew the prisoner also. He 
had this more to say, that the burden he bore was the precious 
relic of a dead saint, even a bone of his body, which was 
enshrined in a case of sandal-wood, inlaid with silver and 
gold, of which priceless treasure he, Father Adrian, was the 
sole custodian. Would their mightinesses the judges be' 
pleased to look upon the marvel-working relic ? 

“Another time, another time, good father,” said the pre- 
sident, somewhat impatiently. “ Go on now with your 
evidence for the prisoner, if you have aught to tell.” 

He had this more to tell : — that on the night of that sacri- 
legious image-breaking, being in deadly peril of losing that 
which he valued more than his life, and being, as he verily 
believed, pursued by those who would have robbed him of 
his treasure, he took refuge in the house of burgher Franck, 
who not only gave him friendly shelter, but also placed in all 
security and honour the relic that he bore, — keeping both it 
and him with generous hospitality till the danger had passed 
away, — in proof of which he once more tendered a sight of 
the blessed bone to the inquisitors, who, again declining for 
that time the privilege, demanded of the advocate if he had 
any farther witnesses to call. 

I had other witness ; but I will let my client’s case rest 
where it now stands,” said Merula, who had keenness enough 
to perceive the impression made by the last witness. A 
buzz of approbation from the body of the court followed this 
declaration ; and then a death-like silence fell upon all present, 
while the judges consulted together. 

Was it to be life or death ? No wonder if Nina’s heart 
beat rapidly; but her heart was lifted up to God, and en- 
durance was given. 


294 


Within Sea Walls. 


The consultation of the judges was painfully protracted. 
It seemed as though they differed as to the verdict they 
should give. There was one of them at least who appeared 
to be standing out against his compeers ; and those who were 
nearest the tribunal plainly heard him impatiently uttering 
the dread doom of condemnation, conveyed in the well-known 
and understood words, “ ad patibulum ” (to the gallows !). 

This sentence of death, however, evidently did not meet 
the concurrence of three of his fellow judges ; and it was 
noticed, after more whispering, that the dissentient presently 
threw himself back in his seat passionately, and took no 
further part in the whispered conference. 

When this was over, the president employed himself for 
some time in writing down in a book befoie him the minutes 
probably of the decision of the court, and then in an im- 
pressive tone he addressed the prisoner, — first of all re- 
capitulating the charges which had been brought against him, 
— charges involving the gravest criminality and treason against 
the government both in Church and State. He went on to 
declare that these charges, being proved, could be only 
atoned for by death. For his own part, he added, he saw no 
reason to doubt the accuracy and justice of the accusations 
made ; but as the decision did not rest with himself alone, 
and as the majority of the judges had determined that many 
of those accusations remained unproved, and as it had been 
shown by credible witnesses that the prisoner had on some 
occasions done service to religion, — the court had determined 
to exercise its privilege of mercy. “You are therefore,” he 
added, “ acquitted of these present charges, and are discharged 
from prison.” 

He ceased speaking, and at the same instant a shrill cry 
from one among the audience smote painfully on the ears of 
all oresent and threw the court into momentary confusion. 


The Trial and Escape. 295 

The cry was Nina’s. She who had so long bravely borne 
sorrow and care and anxious doubt, and had looked forward, 
as she thought, with strong reliance on her God and Saviour, 
to her father’s condemnation, — if so it should be ordered, — 
was at length overcome by joy at his deliverance. At the 
words, “ acquitted, and discharged from prison,” Nina’s strength 
gave way. There was that one hysterical cry, and then she 
fainted, and would have fallen to the floor, but for the strong 
arm of the burgomaster Lippershay which sustained her. 

Several days later in the course of time, and late in the 
evening, some of the principal persons of our narrative were 
assembled in the well-lighted drawing-room of the burgo- 
master Lippershay. There were Fioris Franck and his 
daughter Nina, both in some measure showing the effects of 
their late heavy trials, but serenely happy in their reunion. 
There was Aunt Philippa, subdued and humbled, yet rejoicing 
in the unexpected mercy of God in the deliverance of her 
brother-in-law. There stood also, in ordinary lay costume, 
the ex-monk Guy Regis beside his mother, the Beguine ; and 
there too was the widow Van Muler, who had discovered that 
the burgomaster’s lady had been for many years past secretly 
one of the best patronesses in the purchase, by deputy, of her 
finest and richest specimens of point-lace. By these kind 
and judicious purchases the lady had helped the poor lace- 
worker over many difficulties, and conferred a- richer benefit 
than though she had advanced the same amount of ducatoons 
in mere charity. There also was our friend Jan, the one- 
armed sailor, who insisted on maintaining his post at the door 
of the apartment as porter; and there too, seated behind her 
young mistress, and in loving tendence on her, was nurse 
Ursel. The burgomaster, and his lady, and their daughter 
Paulina were there; and they all, as it seemed, were waiting 


296 


Within Sea Walls, 


in expectation of some other arrival ; for the burgomaster, 
after bustling out and in more than once, uttered some won- 
dering exclamation that he had not yet arrived. Meanwhile 
conversation was carried on in quiet tones among the several 
groups into which the party was broken up. 

The suspense, however, was presently ended by a slight 
movement without, and then by the entrance of the advocate 
Merula, between whom and those present warm greetings 
were interchanged. Then the advocate spoke, addressing 
Floris Franck. 

“ It is as I feared,’* he said, in a tone of abrupt decision. 
“ The officers of the Inquisition at Antwerp refuse to give up 
your property. They have also forwarded a remonstrance 
to the Duke of Alva against your acquittal. A few more 
hours, and if they succeed, as they hope to do, you will once 
more be lodged in prison, your acquittal reversed, awaiting 
a new trial.” 

“ It must be as God wills,” said the merchant, resignedly. 
Nina turned her eyes tearfully from the advocate to her 
father, and then again to the advocate. No one else spoke. 

“ It is God’s will that you should be delivered out of their 
hands !” exclaimed the generous burgomaster. Listen : — it is 
but a short stage to Ostend, — there a vessel waits to convey 
you and yours to England. The means of transport to port 
are ready, and at your service. I foreboded that which we have 
just heard, and I laid my plans accordingly. Our friends 
here have been invited by me to bid you God-speed. I would 
onl;/ that the parting had been less sudden.’* 

“ But the cost of all this, sir ” 

“We will speak of that another day, my friend,” said 
Baldwin Lippershay. “ Now we have but time to commend 
you and each other to the protection of God, who helps those 
who help themselves.” 


•297 


The Trial and Escape. 

And so, with not many words spoken, the party knelt down 
in earnest prayer ; and then, in the darkness of the night, they 
embraced and separated, — Fioris Frank, his daughter, her 
aunt, and Ursel and Jan, with but few personal effects, 
mounting into a light wagon, which was to convey them to 
the port of Ostend; and the other guests quietly and stealthily 
returning to their homes on foot, through the deserted streets 
of Ghent. 




CHAPTER XXXVII. 


In England — Betas from ^ome. 

I'HILE the events we have recorded were in 
progress in the Netherlands, the Prince of 
Orange was a wanderer, and unable either to 
rescue his friends from danger, or to strike a 
blow for the liberties of his country. “Yet,’’ 
says his historian, “he never allowed himself 
to despair; and in the darkest hours of 
calamity he was ever watchful. It was no 
longer his cause, but God’s ; and in God’s 
good time. He would send help from His 
sanctuary.’’ 

Compelled, however, to acknowledge that, 
at that time, all open efforts for the deliverance 
of the Netherlands were likely to be fruitless, 
“the prince instinctively,” we are told, “turned 
his eyes towards the more favourable aspect of 
the Reformation in France. It was inevitable,” 
the historian goes on to say, “ that while he was thus thrown 
for the time out of his legitimate employment, he should be 
led to the battles of freedom in a foreign land.” 

It does not enter into the scojpe of our narrative to describe 



299 


In England — News from Home. 

the exploits of the Protestant hero on behalf of the persecuted 
Huguenots ; and we must pass on to observe that even while 
thus engaged, the prince kept up an extensive correspon- 
dence with leading persons in every part of the Netherlands. 
We may understand, therefore, that it was in consequence of 
his communications, and perhaps instructions, that Floris 
Franck had determined on proceeding to England, where, as 
was believed, he might be usefully employed in furthering the 
cause of the Reformation in his own country. At any rate, it 
is perfectly well known that the prince had friends and 
correspondents scattered throughout Europe ; and even the 
conventional or disguising terms by which different circum- 
stances and persons of importance were designated in these 
letters, are now matters of history. Thus, the prince himself 
“was always designated as Martin Willemzoon, the Duke of 
Alva as Master Powels van Albas, the Queen of England as 
Henry Philipzoon, and the King of Denmark as Peter 
Petersen. The twelve signs of the zodiac were also used 
instead of the twelve months, and a great variety of similar 
substitutions were adopted.” The key to this enigmatical 
writing was in the hands of all the friends of his cause with 
whom the prince corresponded, — not only in the Provinces, 
but in France, England, Germany, and particularly in the 
great commercial cities. 

From these items of history we turn to some of the person- 
ages of our narrative, whom we shall find domiciled in a 
pleasant house on the banks of the Thames, in or near the 
suburban village of Chelsea, — then separated from London 
by a broad expanse of marshy and almost uninhabited land, 
intersected by roads dangerous to unprotected and solitary 
travellers ; and rarely traversed by those who could afford 
the pleasanter and safer mode of transport offered by the 
silent highway, as the Thames has been aptly named. 


300 


Within Sea Walls, 


The attractions which this locality offered to Floris Franck 
and his family on his arrival in London are sufficiently 
obvious. There was no place near the English metropolis 
which bore so marked a resemblance to his beloved birth-land, 
as did the flats of Chelsea and the opposite district of Batter- 
sea. It needed only, in some moods, to call the Thames by 
the name of Scheldt, and the delusion was complete ; — so, at 
least, thought Nina Franck, when, as was her frequent custom, 
she sat in a quiet garden-house, built on the very bank of the 
river, to which the grounds of her father’s house extended, 
and watched the quiet rippling of the tide, which was only 
occasionally disturbed by the broad oars of sluggish barges, as 
they passed by in mid-stream ; or when her sister and herself 
and old Ursel, with Jan for a steersman, sailed on summer 
evenings in a light skiff on those placid waters. 

Another inducement for the ex-merchant of Antwerp to 
take up his abode at Chelsea, was its proximity to West- 
minster, with its courts of law and parliament. Acting as 
one of the agents of his prince in England, it was desirable 
that he should be in frequent correspondence with those 
English noblemen and statesmen who were friendly to the 
Protestant cause in the Netherlands. Not much, however, 
had as yet resulted from all the negotiations in which he had 
taken part. For more than a year, dating from his first arrival 
in London, after his narrow escape from the gallows in his 
own country, Floris Franck had been unceasingly engaged in 
endeavouring to enlist the sympathies of “ the lady of the 
narrow seas,” as Queen Elizabeth was sometimes termed, in 
favour of his Protestant countrymen ; but with uncertain results. 
She was willing enough to give protection to all the Flemish 
exiles who took shelter in her dominions ; for many of 
these were among the most industrious inhabitants of the 
Netherlands, and had rendered that country celebrated for 


301 


In England — News from Home. 

its arts : so that she reaped great advantage by introducing 
into England some useful manufactures which were formerly 
unknown there. But, at the same time, she adverted to the 
religious scruples which had produced the revolt of the Hol- 
landers, in a tone of levity which it is difficult to understand 
her motive for assuming ; since it could not fail to give 
extreme offence, not only to the suppliants for her help, but 
even to her own Protestant subjects. She said that it was 
unreasonable of the Dutch to have stirred up so great a 
commotion merely on account of the celebration of the mass; 
and that so contumacious a resistance to their king could never 
redound to their honour, since they were not compelled to 
believe in the divinity of the mass, but only to be spectators 
of its performance as a public spectacle. “ What,” said she, 
“ if I were to begin to act some scene in a dress like this ” 
(for she was clad in white, like a priest), — “ should you regard 
it as a crime to behold it } ” It is not to be supposed that a 
woman who could treat religious scruples thus lightly, could 
have much sympathy with the sufferers under religious 
persecution. 

It was while these negotiations were going on, that letters 
from their old home reached the Flemish family at Chelsea,* 
which filled them with sorrow. Among these letters v/as one 
especially, from Paul Merula, of Leyden, which, though 
addressed principally to his affianced Margaret, contained 
information which was common to all, and which we reproduce 
for the benefit of our English readers. 

After dwelling at some length on the condition of the un- 
happy country, which was ground to powder between the 
upper and nether millstones of spiritual despotism and fiscal 
burdens, the writer proceeded thus 

“ One of the latest of those who have sealed with their 
blood the testimony of the Word, was our now sainted and 


302 


Within Sea Walls, 


glorified brother, Guy Regis. It is marvellous, indeed, that 
he so long escaped the quest and malice of the Inquisition, 
seeing how bold he had been for the truth, and how earne^^t 
in making known the gospel of Christ’s salvation. After 
numberless escapes, which were partly due to the facility with 
which he slipped on various disguises, — sometimes appearing 
as a priest, then as a beggar, afterwards as a herdsman or 
cattle driver, then as a pedlar or travelling merchant, and 
anon as a Spanish soldier, — he was captured near to Brussels, 
whence he was conveyed to Ghent — that city being the scene 
of what is called his apostacy ; otherwise, of his marvellous 
deliverance from the darkness of popery, and his translation 
into the bright, clear sunlight of the Reformation. His trial 
before the blood tribunal speedily took place, and his con- 
demnation still more quickly followed. But, instead of being 
sentenced to the gallows, according to the tenor of the latest 
edict, he was condemned to be burned, as a most notorious 
and daring rebel and heretic. This sentence was carried into 
execution in the market-place ; but not until he had been 
cruelly tortured to compel him to confess the names of those 
who had harboured him, and assisted him in his various 
. disguises. But the severest pains, as I am told, would draw 
from him only prayers for his tormentors, and expressions of 
fervent love towards God and His truth, and humble reliance 
on the merits and intercession of God’s dear Son. 

“ On being led to the place of execution, his mouth was 
gagged, so that he might not pervert others in the hour of his 
death. But, ere the fire was lighted, the gag became loosened, 
and fell from his mouth, so that he was heard by those near 
to pray fervently to God for His gracious presence and help. 
Whereupon one in the crowd (it was a woman’s voice) cried 
out ; — ‘ Fight manfully, dear brother ; your sufferings will be 
soon ended.’ Upon which, the martyr unbuttoned his vest, 


THE MARTYRDOM OF GUY REGIS 


















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In England — News from Home, 305 

and showed his naked breast, all bloody and bruised with the 
tortures he had previously borne ; and, lifting up his eyes to 
heaven, he said, ‘ I have already in my body the marks of 
Christ my Saviour.’ And so presently the fire was lighted, 
and Guy Regis died in the flames. Search was afterwards 
made for the woman who had cheered him on ; but she was 
hidden in the crowd. Yet there are those who knew that the 
voice was that of a poor lace-worker, whose husband was a 
former martyr, and who has a son a printer in Leyden. 

“ I have yet other heavy news to send you,” the letter went 
on ; — “ your cousin Lysken and her husband, Kasper Arnold- 
zoon, are now in prison. It is a month since tidings were 
brought to Leyden that Kasper, who had been some weeks 
absent on one of his dangerous journeys, had fallen into the 
hands of the Inquisitors, near to the Brill, whither he was led 
as a prisoner. In his pack were found some of the pamphlets 
which he carried concealed under his lace and other mer- 
chandize ; and on the evidence of these he was thrust into 
prison. On hearing this, his fond wife Lysken, who had 
but recently buried her only child, determined to go and 
comfort him ; nor could all our persuasions prevail upon her 
to forego her resolution. So, after setting her house in order, 
and taking a tender farewell of her father, she departed, under 
the guardianship of Hans, the printer, who lodged in her 
house. A week later, he returned alone, having himself 
narrowly escaped from the grasp of the Inquisition, — only as 
nothing could be found against him, and especially as he was 
poor, he was allowed to go free. But as for your cousin, she 
was so closely questioned, and she so bravely declared her 
abhorrence of Romish doctrine, that she was forthwith placed 
in confinement in the common jail. And she now, with her 
husband, awaits her trial for heresy.” 

There was more in the advocate’s letter ; but that which 

X 


Within Sea Walls, 


306 

had been already read in the assembled family, amidst many 
tears and sobs, and exclamations of horror, prevented for the 
time any further knowledge of its contents. Afterwards, 
however, when they had spent some time in prayer, and had 
thus gained some degree of strength and composure of soul, 
they turned again to the letter, and gathered these further 
particulars : — first, that on the morning following the 
martyrdom of Guy Regis, his aged mother, the Beguine 
Margaret, not making her accustomed appearance at matins 
in the church, was sought for by one of the sisters, and was 
found on her bed, lifeless ; the heavy sorrow of the previous 
day having, as was believed, so wrought upon her poor weak 
bodily frame as to cause her sudden dissolution. Yet a smile 
of peaceful tranquillity was seen on her death countenance ; 
and by her side was an open New Testament — a French 
version — on which her hand rested, close under these words 
of the apostle : — 

“ Et quand ce corps corruptible aura 6t4 revetu de Tincor- 
ruptibilit^, et que ce corps mortel aura ^td revetu de I’im- 
mortalitd, alors cette parole de I’Ecriture sera accomplie : La 
mort est engloutie pour toujours. O mort ou est ton aiguillon ? 
O sdpulcre ou est ta victoire ? Or, Taiguillon de la mort, c’est 
le peche ; et la puissance du pdche, c est la loi. Mais grdces 
k Dieu, qui nous a donnd la victoire par notre Seigneur Jesus- 
Christ.”! 

The letter went on further to say that on the news of the 
capture and imprisonment of Lysken and her husband, Lysken’s 
father fell into a deep maze of despondency amounting 
almost to childish terror, so that it was feared his intellect 
was touched ; but that he had been partly revived by the 
kindness of the good pensionary of the city— one Paul Buys, 
who had procured for him, temporarily, the post of carilloneur 
^ I Cor. XV. 54-57. 


In England — i^ews from Home, 307 

in the church of St. Peter, and had in other ways interested 
himself in the old man’s welfare. 

The letter concluded with a faithful promise on the part of 
Paul Merula, that he would leave no stone unturned to 
procure the release (if such might be) of Lysken, and of her 
husband also ; and that meanwhile he would keep his beloved 
friends in England informed from time to time of the course 
of events. 

Not much was said by any of the family when the letter 
was closed. The intelligence conveyed in it was too over- 
whelming to admit of many words. On Madam Philippa, 
however, the effect was startling ; it seemed like the trumpet 
sound to battle, heard afar off by a war-charger. Oh, would 
that she were there ! — that she had but the power, as she had 
the will, to tell the proud deceivers and the cruel persecutors 
of that idolatrous Church which she, to her shame, had so 
long upheld, that their day of triumph would be short ; that 
the arrows of the Almighty were already sharpened against 
them ! 

“ My poor Gerard ! my dear brother ! ” sobbed Floris 
Franck, giving way, for once, to a flood of manly tears. The 
weeping mood lasted not long with him, however; while, 
with a sterner determination than ever, he vowed that he 
would with fourfold resolution, if possible, devote himself 
afresh to the freedom of his enslaved country. 




CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

Bjeggars xif th^ $jea* 

HE Prince of Orange before going to France had, 
among other plans for the emancipation of his 
country, issued commissions to various seafaring 
persons, who were thus empowered to cruise 
against Spanish commerce. “The Beggars of 
the Sea,” as those privateersmen designated 
themselves, soon acquired as terrible a name as 
the wild beggars, or the forest beggars. But 
the prince, having had many conversations 
with Admiral Coligny on the important benefits 
to be derived from the system, had faithfully 
set himself to effect a reformation of its 
abuses after his return from France. The 
Seigneur de Dolhain, who, like many other 
refugee nobles, had acquired much distinction 
in this roving, corsair life, had for a season 
acted as admiral for the prince. He had, however, resolutely 
declined to render any accounts of his various expeditions, 
and was now deprived of his command in consequence. 
At the same time strict orders were issued by Orange, 
forbidding all hostile measures against the emperor, or any 



The Beggars of the Sea, 309 

of the princes of the empire; against Sweden, Denmark, 
England ; or against any potentates who were protectors 
of the true Christian religion. The Duke of Alva and 
his adherents were designated as the only lawful an- 
tagonists. The prince, moreover, gave minute instructions 
as to the discipline to be observed in his fleet. The articles 
of war were to be strictly enforced. Each commander was to 
maintain a minister on board his ship, who was to preach 
God’s Word, and to preserve Christian piety among the crew. 
No one was to exercise any command in the fleet save native 
Netherlanders, unless thereto expressly commissioned by the 
Prince of Orange. All prizes were to be divided and 
distributed by a prescribed rule. No persons were to be 
received on board, either as sailors or soldiers, save folk of 
good name and fame. No man who had ever been punish«'d 
of justice was to be admitted. Such, adds the historian 
whom we copy, were the principal features in the organiza- 
tion of that infant navy which, in course of this and the 
following centuries, was to achieve so many triumphs, and to 
which a powerful and adventurous mercantile marine had 
already led the way,”^ 

This sounds well ; and the precautions taken by the prince 
for the regulation of his Water Gueux, or Sea Beggars, — 
supposing that organization to be desirable or justifiable, 
— were praiseworthy. It may be said, too, not only that 
persecution drives even wise men mad ; but that desperate 
diseases, such as that which afflicted the Netherlands, require 
desperate remedies. Added to all this, we know God makes 
not only the wrath of His enemies, but the imperfections 
and mistakes of His chosen ones, to praise Him. Yet the 
writer may be permitted to doubt whether the means adopted 
by the Prince of Orange in this instance, though intended 
^ Motley’s Rise of the Dutch Republic, 


310 


Within Sea Walls, 


for the help and deliverance of God’s persecuted people, 
were such as can be approved, when looked at in the light 
of the gospel. Let us beware of judging harshly, however. 
It is for us, in these times of more advanced light and higher 
privileges, to learn wisdom by those things wherein they 
erred. JFrom those to whom much is given, much also 
is required. That the reader may understand why this 
paragraph has been written, we turn once more to the history 
before us. 

“ Allusion has more than once been made,” says the his- 
torian, somewhat later, “ to those formidable partisans of 
the patriot cause, the marine outlaws. Cheated of half their 
birthright by nature, and now driven forth from their narrow 
isthmus by tyranny, the exiled Hollanders took to the ocean. 
Its boundless fields, long arable to their industry, became 
fatally fruitful, now that oppression was transforming a 
peaceful, seafaring people into a nation of corsairs. Driven 
to outlawry and poverty, no doubt many Netherlanders 
plunged into crime. The patriot party had long since laid 
aside the respectable deportment which had provoked the 
sarcasm of the loyalists. The Beggars of the Sea asked their 
alms through the mouths of their cannon. Unfortunately, 
they but too often made their demands upon both friend and 
foe. Every ruined merchant, every banished lord, every 
reckless mariner who was willing to lay the commercial 
world under contribution to repair his damaged fortunes, 
could without much difficulty be supplied with a vessel and 
crew at some northern port, under colour of cruising against 
the viceroy’s government. Nor was the estimable motive 
simply a pretext To make war upon Alva was the leading 
object of all these freebooters, and they were usually furnished 
by the Prince of Orange, in his capacity of sovereign, with 
letters of marque for that purpose. The prince, indeed, 


311 


The Beggars of the Sea, 

did his utmost to control and correct an evil which had 
inevitably grown out of the horrors of the time. His admiral, 
William de la Marck, was, however, incapable of compre- 
hending the lofty purposes of his superior. A wild, san- 
guinary, licentious noble, wearing his hair and beard unshorn, 
according to ancient Batavian custom, until the death of 
his relative Egmont should have been expiated, — this hirsute 
and savage corsair seemed an embodiment of vengeance. He 
had sworn to wreak upon Alva and upon popery the deep 
revenge owed to them by the Netherland nobility ; and 
in the cruelties afterwards practised by him upon monks and 
priests, the Blood Council learned that their example had 
made at least one ripe scholar among the rebels.” 

Such, then, were some of the instruments which God, 
in Plis overruling providence, saw fit to make use of in 
humbling the pride of haughty persecutors, and in bringing 
deserved punishment upon them for the terrible crimes they 
had committed, and the guilt they had heaped upon their 
defiled souls. 

“ Some of the instruments,” we have written ; but not all were 
such. There were multitudes of men among the avengers 
of God’s elect whose character stands out in noble and 
enduring contrast with that of De la Marck, and those who 
were like him ; and of these it may be said, that the justice 
of their cause and the purity of their motives sanctified them 
in the sight of heaven. They were God’s warriors. It was 
He who taught their hands to war, and their fingers to fight, 
— who was their goodness and their fortress, their high tower 
and their deliverer, their shield, and He in whom they trusted. 
But “in a great house there are' not only vessels of gold and 
silver, but also of wood and of earth, — and some to honour, 
and some to dishonour.” 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 


Bmheo ^leed ta I»ean ttpan. 

5 ONTHS rolled on, and the exiled family in their 
city of refuge were kept in painful suspense 
regarding their relatives in the Netherlands. 
From time to time, as he had promised, letters 
were received from the advocate Merula; but 
he could give no further information than that 
Kasper and Lysken Arnoldzoon were still 
detained as prisoners at the Brill, — the husband 
in the common jail, the wife in a convent, — 
their trial having been indefinitely postponed. 

Meanwhile the mission of Floris Franck to 
the English seemed to be rendered nugatory by 
the shifting policy of the queen and her govern- 
ment. At times hopes were held out that some 
steps would be taken favourable to the liberties 
of the persecuted Protestants abroad, and some 
encouragement was given to the Orange fleet of privateers, 
of whom an account was given in the previous chapter; 
so that “ the Duke of Alva, in revenge, seized all the English 
merchants in the Low Countries, threw them into prison, 
and confiscated their effects the queen retaliating in like 



313 


A Broken Reed to Lean Upon. 

manner, and also giving her English subjects liberty to make 
reprisals on the subjects of the Spanish king. These dif- 
ferences, however, were sought to be accommodated by treaty ; 
and early in 1572 “the negotiations between the Duke of 
Alva and Queen Elizabeth had assumed an amicable tone, 
and were fast ripening to an adjustment. It lay by no means 
in that sovereign's disposition,” we are told, “ to involve 
herself at this juncture in a war with Philip ; and it was urged 
upon her government by Alva’s commissioners that the 
continued countenance afforded by the English people to 
the Netherland cruisers must inevitably lead to that result. 
In the latter end of March, therefore, a sentence of virtual- 
excommunication was pronounced against De la Marck and 
his rovers,” — a peremptory order being issued by the queen, 
forbidding any of her subjects to supply them even with 
provisions. 

Just at the time of this order being prqmulgated a fleet 
of twenty-four vessels, manned by the Beggars of the Sea, 
had anchored off Dover, expecting to be provisioned as there- 
tofore, and also greatly needing supplies. The vessels, which 
were of various sizes, were commanded by De la Marck, 
Treslong,^ Adam Van Haren, Brand, and other distinguished 
seamen. Passing over these great names, however, we place 
ourselves on board one of the smaller craft, commanded by 
a God-fearing mariner, named (after the great Reformer of 
Germany) Martin Luther Vanderwerf. 

1 William de Blois, Seigneur of Treslong. “ This adventurous noble, whose 
brother had been executed by the Duke of Alva in 1568, had himself fought by 
the side of Count Louis (brother of the Prince of Orange), and, although covered 
with wounds, had been one of the few who escapedf alive from the horrible carnage 
at Jemmingen. During the intervening period he had become one of the most 
famous rebels on the ocean.” His father had formerly been governor of Brill. 

Mothy. 


Within Sea Walls, 


3H 

Whatever might have been the character of his brother 
commanders, and the characteristics of their followers, Captain 
Vanderwerf had resolved, in the spirit of the Old Testa- 
ment warrior Joshua, that, as for him and his ship’s 
crew, they would serve the Lord. He himself, like his 
superior in command, Treslong, had been driven by fiery 
persecution to seek shelter on the ocean ; and his previous 
training had fitted him for the quarter-deck of one of the 
prince’s cruisers. He had, however, kept back himself, and 
restrained his men from the excesses which had cast a shade 
over the Protestant fleet in general, and had softened, as much 
as lay in his power, the rigours and horrors of civil warfare, 
as carried on on the high seas. 

As was the commander, so in great measure was his crew. 
Young men — who for the Gospel’s sake had forsaken home, 
and lucrative positions, and loving hearts — were to be found 
there. Mostly acquainted, from their native habits, with 
sea-craft, these young men needed but few instructions and 
constant practice to make them efficient sailors. Among 
them, moreover, was a sprinkling of strong-hearted, efficient 
hands, whose whole lives had been spent on the sea, and 
whose experience had been gained in long voyages to the 
Eastern Indies. 

No one more readily than Captain Vanderwerf had adopted 
and carried out the reforms required by the prince in the 
ship he commissioned. A godly minister held an honoured 
position on board the “ Peter and Paul,” as the barque was 
named ; and that he was instant in season and out of season 
in instructing the crew, and in preserving Christian piety 
among them, needs no other proof than that the preacher at 
this time was the Francis Junius with whom we have already 
become acquainted, and who, compelled for a time to flee from 
his former haunts, had gladly responded to the invitation of 


FLEET OF •*THE BEGGARS OF THE SEA" OFF DOVER 





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A Broken Reed to Lean Upon, 317 

his friend the captain to take the spiritual oversight of his 
mariners. 

It was on one of the latest days in March that (the fleet, 
as we have said, having just arrived and anchored off Dover) 
Captain Vanderwerf caused a boat to be lowered, and des- 
patched it to shore, under the command of his chief mate, 
to obtain a fresh supply of provisions, — those on board being 
nearly exhausted. It was a lively sight, doubtless, from the 
heights and cliffs on either side of the ancient town, — these 
foreign ships in the offing, with their sails furled, and a whole 
flotilla of boats pulling to land, each boat^s crew eager to 
be the first to exchange their Spanish gold and silver coins 
for what was vastly more precious to them, — the bread, and 
meat, and beer which they so much needed. They were 
gaunt-looking men mostly in the boats, — men inured to 
hardship and peril, who had risked their lives often, and were 
ready to risk them again, some for plunder, others for 
vengeance on persecutors, and others in defence of their 
liberties, civil and religious. 

But, whatever might be their motives for taking up arms, 
the townspeople of Dover well knew that towards their town, 
and England at large, these “Beggars of the Sea” had only 
the most friendly and grateful feelings ; for it was only a year 
ago that the same fleet came into the Lower Roads, bringing 
with them several prizes, in the shape of Spanish vessels, 
which they sold to advantage in the town. And when chased 
by other Spanish vessels, the Orange fleet had drawn up 
under the protection of the Castle guns, which fired upon 
the chasers, and drove them away; — the authorities then 
declaring that English waters were a sanctuary not to be 
invaded with impunity. Moreover, at other times, the Sea 
Beggars had been freely supplied at Dover with all they 
needed in the way of communication and food, even when 


Within Sea Walts. 


318 

shelter was not required. All this was altered now, however ; 
and it was with sorrow, and shame, and indignation that the 
good Protestants of Dover, who not so very long ago had 
themselves tasted of the bitter cup of persecution unde. 
Queen Mary, of infamous memory, — I say it was with sorrow 
shame, and indignation that they knew themselves to be 
prohibited, under pain of the heaviest penalties, from affording 
relief to these starving mariners, — their own brethren in the 
faith, as they might have argued, — who were now approaching 
their beach with such joyful confidence. 

We are still on board the “ Peter and Paul,” however ; and 
while the boats are yet absent from the fleet, we may listen 
to a conversation on deck between the chaplain of the ship 
and a young man, who had only been a week or so one of 
her small band of marines. 

“ Methinks, young sir, I have seen you elsewhere, though 
I cannot charge my memory with the time and place,” said 
pastor Junius. 

“We have met three times, sir,” said the young man, 
respectfully. “ The first time was at Antwerp, now five years 
ago, when I was staying a few days in the house of the 
merchant Franck, and you too were there. Since then, you 
have stayed at the house where I was lodging in Leyden, — 
the house, I mean, next the Golden Key. The last time 
I saw you was in the summer of last year at the Brill, whither 
I accompanied my dear friend, Lysken Arnoldzoon, and she 
underwent the examination which ended in her being detained 
as a prisoner. I too was examined, but was allowed to ga 
free.” 

“Ah! and you saw me, and knew me then?” 

“ Y es, sir ; you were in the crowd when we were taken to 
the Hall, — dressed as a mason, with a hod on your shoulder 
1 knew you then, though perhaps you remembered me not.” 


319 


A Broken Reed to Lean Upon, 

** I remember you now, my friend, — and your name ?” 

‘*Is Hans van Muler.” 

“The son of that godly woman in Ghent?'* 

“The same, sir.” 

“You are a printer, then, by trade. By what strange 
chance, or providence rather, do I now find you in this new 
occupation, — a Beggar of the Sea ?” asked the pastor. 

“ It is a sad story, sir,” replied the young marine, with much 
painful emotion. “ It is now a month since I was again at 
the Brill, whither I was drawn by strong affection, to learn 
the doom of my dear friends, Kasper Arnoldzoon and his 
wife Lysken, who were about to be tried before the Blood 
Council. It may be, sir, you have heard of the sentence 
pronounced against them ?” 

“No, I have been on board now some months, and have 
heard but few particulars, save that persecution is still rife.” 

“You may say so, sir,” rejoined Hans, “as you would have 
felt had you been present when my friend Kasper was, for 
the faith of Christ, condemned to death by drowning, and 
his loving wife, to be buried alive.” 

“And heard you this?” demanded the preacher, vehe- 
mently, grasping the young man’s arm convulsively. 

“ No, sir, for the public were not admitted to the trial : but 
the sentence was known as soon as pronounced ; and in one 
of the churches a Te Deum was sung because of it.” 

Great drops of perspiration started from the brow of Hans 
as he spake ; and he laid his hand upon the sword he wore, 
half drawing it from its sheath, and then returning it again 
with a violence which told of the pitch of excitement to which 
the very mention of the atrocious sentence maddened him. 
The preacher was scarcely less moved. 

“ O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth ; O God, to 
whom vengeance belongeth, show Thyself! Lift up Thyself, 


320 


Within Sea Walls, 


Thou Judge of the earth ! Render a reward to the proud !^— 
he cried, in bitterness of spirit; adding, — “and they blame us 
for resistance. The Lord judge between us and them. But 
they carried not the sentence into immediate execution ?” 

“ I know not, sir,” said Hans. I know only that when 
I heard it I went straight to the Zealand islands, where I 
heard that some of the prince’s ships were like to be, — 
determined that I would no more settle down to peaceful 
work till the blood of those saints should be avenged.” 

“ I wonder not at it. And yet, Hans, it is written, ‘ Ven- 
geance is Mine, saith the Lord. I will repay.’ But I wonder 
not at it. You, however, found us not at anchor. We should 
have put in to Walcheren for provisions, but the wind was 
contrary, or we should not now have been in such straits.” 

Here the conversation was broken off abruptly, by the 
return of all the boats. 

“ They have been quick in their dealings,” said one of the 
sailors of the “ Peter and Paul.” 

Alas ! they had had no dealings. Met on the beach by 
the authorities of the town, the boat’s crew were told of the 
orders received from the queen’s government, which no man 
in Dover dared disobey. They were significantly pointed 
also to the Castle on the frowning heights, the muzzles of 
whose guns might be seen already thrust through the em- 
brasures, and to the batteries below. And thus they were 
given to understand that the power which had, only a year 
before, protected, was now ready to assist in crushing them. 

There was no help for it ; and that same day, the distressed 
Beggars of the Sea weighed anchor and sullenly departed 
from the English coast, bitterly reflecting on the fickleness 
and servility to their persecutors cf England’s queen, whom 
(rightly enough) they accused of being herself a persecutor, 
if not a papist at heart. 



CHAPTER XL. 

^}eliufirani3es. 

HE fleet of Beggars was weighing anchor pre- 
paratory to leaving the inhospitable shores of 
England, when two Spanish galleons, propelled 
partly by sails, and partly by oars, were entering 
cautiously into the British Channel, and swiftly 
taking their course northward. 

In one of these vessels, chained to one of the 
oars, was a young man of some two or three 
and twenty, though the deep lines on his coun- 
tenance, and his haggard appearance altogether, 
would apparently have added at least ten years 
to his real age. And no wonder; for he had 
been in one of the Inquisition prisons in Spain. 

This was his history in brief : — About five 
years before this twenty-ninth day ot March, 
in 1572, the young man, then but a stripling, 
had sailed in a merchant vessel to Spain. The ship was 
wrecked, and he, narrowly escaping the perils of the sea, was 
landed on the coast of Spain, and found his way to Madrid. 
Here, on the day succeeding his arrival, he was unhappily in 
the street at the time of a procession of the host. Being a 

Y 



Within Sea Walls, 


322 

Protestant by education and prepossession, and having a high 
spirit as well, he refused to bow as the procession passed. 
This was observed, and the young man was arrested and 
cast into prison. At first, he thought it glorious to be a 
martyr for the truth ; but having no strong principle to sustain 
him, the terrors of the Inquisition so wrought upon him after 
a few months' confinement, that, rather than figure in the 
condemned garment of an auto-da-fe, he denied his faith, 
and professed to be a convert to popery. As a warning, 
however, to other heretics, the unhappy young renegade was 
required to take a prominent part of the Act of Faith, wearing 
the penitent's black dress, with painted flames pointing 
downwards, as indicating that he had narrowly escaped the 
punishment of death, but had been, out of the superabundant 
mercy of the Church, pardoned on repentance. Even then, 
however, the new convert was not permitted to go free, but 
was compelled to serve in the government galleys as a slave. 
No wonder, therefore, at his aged looks. The hardships of 
his degraded position, — an ardent longing for home, — and, 
above all, the gnawings of conscience, — combined to bear 
down both flesh and spirit with a burden too heavy to be borne. 

Night fell on the galleons when they had barely passed 
through the narrowest part ‘of the straits between France and 
England ; and then, while the sails were set for a favourable 
breeze to carry them still northward, the poor galley-slaves 
were allowed to rest from their oars, and to snatch a few 
hours’ uneasy repose. For them, indeed, morning came too 
soon. At the first dawn, they were summoned once more 
to their hateful task, and smarting both in spirit and in body 
from the taunts and the blows of their hard taskmasters, the 
slaves once more bent their bodies and strained their muscles 
at the heavy and cumbrous oars at which they were compelled 
to tug. Poor souls! they knew not how soon they were to 


Deliverances, 


323 

be delivered — and some of them for ever — from earth-born 
tyrants. 

A heavy fog hung upon the water that morning, shutting 
out, as with a thick veil, all surrounding objects. A few 
fathoms ahead of the galleons might be dimly discerned the 
green waves, beyond all was mist. Presently, however, the 
cloud was gradually lifted, and the rising sunbeams glimmered 
and glistened on the waters ; and then was seen, that around, 
on every hand, were vessels of various sizes and designation ; 
but carrying flags which told too well for the captains of the 
galleons their nation and occupation. No peaceful merchant 
ships were they ; but the adventurous and daring fleet of the 
Beggars of the Sea. 

To escape by flight seemed all but impossible; yet it was 
attempted. By stripes and blows and curses and threats, the 
poor wretches chained to the oars were urged to redouble 
their efforts, while more sails were set, and hasty preparations 
were made for resistance. Like the eagle that hasteth to 
its prey, the swift ships of the Netherlanders, with crews 
rendered more than ordinarily ferocious by hunger, gathered 
round the devoted galleons. That they were Spanish vessels 
was enough to urge them on ; — that they were probably laden 
not only with merchandise but well stored with provisions, 
still more whetted the desire for capture. 

An engagement ensued, short but sharp ; and then the 
Spanish flag was lowered, and the captors boarded their 
prizes. Blood had been spilt on both sides, but especially 
on that of the Spaniards ; and the unhappy slaves had not 
escaped the slaughter dealt indiscriminately by the guns of 
the Sea Beggars. With their chains upon them, but their 
grasp on the oars relaxed and never more to be renewed, lay 
the wounded and the dead on the blood-sprinkled deck and 
benches of the captured prizes. 


Within Sea Walls, 


324 

“Hans! Hans! know you me not? Me, unhappy I Me 
your old friend, Karl Franck ?” was shrieked, ratlier than 
spoken, as the young marine from the “ Peter and Paul,” who 
was one of the first to board the larger galleon, sprang by 
the benches of chained rowers towards the end of the vessel 
where yet some show of vain resistance was being offered. 
The cry reached the ear of him to whom it was addressed. 
He turned and looked at the wounded slave from whom the 
cry had proceeded ; and the next moment the two friends 
from boyhood were clasped in each other s embraces. 

There was no time for explanation then ; but when the 
last blow had been stricken, poor Karl was tenderly taken 
on board the “ Peter and Paul,” and his wound, which was 
but slight, was carefully dressed. 

There were bread and meat and drink in the captured 
galleons, for happily they were freighted with provisions. 
These were speedily distributed among the hungry captors, 
and as speedily devoured. Then the prizes were manned ; 
and if the Spanish tyrants presently found themselves com- 
pelled to change places with their galley-slaves, it was but 
one among many other instances of the stern, rigorous 
vengeance dealt out to their persecutors by the Beggars of 
the Sea. 

Once more the fleet was in sailing order. The intention 
of the admiral had been to make a descent upon the coast 
of North Holland ; and accordingly the ships steered for 
Enkbuizen, both because it was a rich seaport, where pro- 
visions could be obtained either by fair purchase or by violence, 
and also because it contained many secret partizans of the 
Prince of Orange. But the wind suddenly chopped round, 
and the ships were unable to proceed on their voyage north- 
ward. And then it entered the minds of the leaders that 
there was a town in the hands of their enemies nearer to 


Deliverances, 


325 

them than Enkbuizen ; and “on the ist of April, having 
abandoned their original intention, they dropped down towards 
Zealand, and entered the broad mouth of the river Meuse/’ 

We must leave it with other historians to tell at large how, 
on the afternoon of that day, the inhabitants of Brill saw with 
astonishment the little fleet approaching their town, — how it 
soon was first whispered, and then became widely noised 
abroad, that this fleet was none other than that of the Beggars 
of the Sea, — how a stout ferryman, named Peter Koppelstok, 
who was secretly favourable to their cause and that of liberty, 
boldly went out in his boat to inquire the purpose of their 
coming, — how he at once was recognised by Count Treslong, 
and employed as their envoy to the magistrates of the town, 
and how he so succeeded in this mission as to spread a panic 
throughout the town, and especially among those who were 
paid to be its defenders, — how these hastily quitted their 
post and sought safety in flight, — and how, before nightfall, 
the important town and fortress of the Brill had been, without 
bloodshed, taken possession of in the name of the Prince of 
Orange. 

There, was food enough found now to satisfy the pressing 
wants of the invaders ; and spoil enough to glut their thirst 
for revenge. 

Not many citizens, indeed, remained in the town ; for on 
the first alarm the greater part of them had fled, and had 
they remained, no indignity would have been offered to them, 
and their private property would have been safe ; for the 
Beggars of the Sea made no war upon their own peaceful 
countrymen. But “as soon as the conquerors were fairly 
established in the best houses of the place,” we are told by 
the historian, ‘‘the inclination to plunder the churches could 
no longer be restrained. The altars and images were all 
destroyed, the rich furniture and gorgeous vestments appro- 


Within Sea Walls, 


326 

priated to private use. Adam van Haren appeared on his 
‘ vessel’s ’ deck, attired in a magnificent high-mass chasuble ; 
and Treslong thenceforth used no drinking-cups in his cabin 
save the golden chalices of the sacrament.” 

The Christian reader must deeply lament that these and 
other excesses which followed, should have disgraced the 
cause of liberty of conscience and national freedom ; but the 
larger amount of guilt and its awful responsibility must rest 
on those who, by the sufferings of death inflicted on thousands 
of Christ’s martyrs, and by their determination to stamp out 
with the iron heel of despotism the last sparks of a people’s 
freedom, brought upon themselves fearful retribution at the 
hands of those whom they had changed from peace-loving 
men and loyal subjects into cruel and vindictive foes. They 
were “ rude and even ribald hands,” truly, some of those by 
whom these deeds of sacrilege and bloodshed were committed, 
yet were they permitted to assist in laying the foundations 
of that liberty for which nobler workers had cheerfully died, 
and upon which a superstructure of grand proportions was 
thereafter to be raised. 

Churches, and chasubles, and chalices, and images, and 
altars, were not, however, the only object of blind infuriated 
violence or desecration. With more worthy motives than 
those of plunder or vengeance, a band of the victors hastened 
to the prisons and convents. In this band were the two 
re-united friends, Hans van Muler and Karl Franck, the 
latter yet weak from the wound so recently received, but 
both animated by the hope that they were not too late for 
the rescue of Kasper and Lysken Arnoldzoon. There had 
been no very recent executions in Brill — they had ascertained 
this — and it was yet possible that their friends might be 
restored to them. 

To the prison first: — the jailers had fled; but the keys 


Deliverances, 


327 


were forthcoming, and the liberators rushed in. There were 
prisoners there confined for crimes against property and life, 
and justly, no doubt, suffering the penalty of their misdeeds. 
To these, probably, some such words were addressed as, — 
“Go and sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.’* 
But there were others, and a larger proportion, whose only 
offence was that they had been faithful to their Saviour and 
the gospel, — the heaviest offence of all in the eyes of the 
foreign rulers of the oppressed land ; and these were immured 
in cells, deep underground, damp and dark and fetid. One 
by one these were released ; and last of all, from the wretched- 
ness of all these dungeons tottered the emaciated form of 
Kasper Arnoldzoon, who, obeying the summons to come 
forth from his living grave, thought full surely that the hour 
of his deliverance from the burden of life and the malice of 
his persecutors was come. And so, in one sense, it was ; but 
not as he interpreted it 

“ Kasper ! Kasper ! ” 

He heard the voice. Did he dream, or were they the old 
familiar tones of his Leyden friend t Another moment, and 
he knew it was no dream. “ Courage, courage, Kasper ! you 
have borne sorrow bravely ; now bear joy as bravely. You 
are free.” 

“ And Lysken ? I understand you not, Hans, nor you, kind 
stranger,” for Karl, so altered as not to be at once recognized, 
had cast himself upon the neck of his brother-in-law, and 
was weeping tears of happiness mingled with remorse for his 
own past apostasy, — “ I understand it not ; but Lysken, — my 
dear wife Lysken.?” 

This was still the burden of his cry when they led him 
away, and knocked from him his fetters, and bade him once 
more breathe tlie air of freedom : — 

“ Lysken I Lysken ! I see not my Lysken !” 


Within Sea Walls, 


328 

To the convent then ; — the convent where Lysken is a 
prisoner, condemned, and awaiting the execution of her 
sentence; where she has daily and hourly suffered the 
severities of conventual discipline to bring down her Pro- 
testant spirit and make a convert of her before she becomes 
a martyr. 

The convent is broken into ; and the mother abbess or 
prioress calmly expresses her surprise at the demands of the 
impatient, and as she calls them, godless rioters. Lysken 
Arnoldzoon ! She knows no Lysken Arnoldzoon. 

*‘Away, away! we do but waste time. Search the hous» 
from cellar to attic.” 

And so the band spreads, driving the nuns hither and 
thither like frightened hares, yet not laying a hand or harming 
one of them ; and presently the hidden prisoner is found ; and 
there, standing by her are her friend Hans, her husband, ever 
dear, but doubly dear to her now; and Karl — her own 
beloved, long lost brother — Karl ! 

There were joyous, thankful hearts that night in Brill! 




CHAPTER XLI. 

The progress of Freedom: ^ Chronicle, 

r was the intention of the admiral to abandon 
his conquest of Brill, after the events already 
recorded, and when his ships had been well 
supplied with provisions : but Treslong and 
other captains in the fleet opposed this motion, 
representing that he ought not to give the key 
of the Low Countries out of his hands. He 
was convinced ; and they prepared to defend 
the advantage they had gained. 

Thus writes the old Dutch historian, Brandt, 
from whose pages we extract and lay before our 
readers a brief chronicle of events which 
immediately succeeded the capture. 

On hearing of this blow to his power, the 
Duke of Alva ordered the Count de Bossu to 
march from Utrecht, v/ith ten companies of 
Spanish soldiers, that so he might stifle the war in its birth 
at Brill, whither he also went himself, but was beaten off by 
De la Marck ; and, returning by Dort, was shut out of that 
city. But at Rotterdam he massacred a great number of the 
inhabitants, — doing the like also at Delfs-Haven. At Flushing, 



330 


Within Sea Walls, 


however, the parish priest, who had no love for the Spaniards, 
had the courage to exhort the people on Easter-day, at high 
mass, to stand up for their liberties : and they listened so well 
to him that they drove out the Walloon garrison ; kept out 
the Spaniards, who thought to have marched in ; and after- 
wards demolished the fort which was begun to be built there. 
They likewise deputed the Heer van Erpt (who had put the 
sailors of that place into a ferment with the news from the 
Brill) to De la Marck for some assistance. They also justi- 
fied themselves in taking up arms because of Alva’s tyranny 
and his violation of the privileges of the country. This they 
represented in strong terms, without speaking a word of 
religion, which seemed somewhat strange : and they concluded 
with assurances of their being faithful subjects of the King 
of Spain. 

On the 4th of May, the town of Ter Veer, in Zealand, 
declared for the Prince of Orange, as the King’s stadtholder 
against Alva. And on the 21st of the same month, the 
people of Enkbuizen did the same, — putting their magistrates 
under confinement. On the 24th the Count Louis of Nassau 
(the prince’s brother) made himself master of the town of 
Mons, in Hainault, by surprise. Alva judged this loss to be 
of such consequence to him, by reason of the neighbourhood 
of France, that he, neglecting everything else, immediately 
bent his march to Hainault. 

In the meantime those in Holland and other -provinces had 
their hands at liberty. Those of Enkbuizen put themselves 
under the Prince’s protection as stadtholder. The same did 
Alkmaer, Edam, Monikedam, and Purmerent on the 28th. 
Oude water was invested the 19th of the said month; and 
Gonda on the 21st. 

At this last place, whilst the town was taken by less than 
sixty men, one of the burgomasters, in a panic fear, ran to 


The Progress of Freedom: A Chronicle, 331 

the house of a widow to save his life : and being shut up in 
a cupboard, he asked if he was safe there. To which she 
answered, “ Oh yes, master burgomaster, for my husband has 
often hid in it from you, when you and others sought for him, 
and the keeper of the prison stood there before him.” This 
cold reproach was all the/revenge she took of him for his cruel 
persecuting temper. 

After this, Leyden and Gorkum declared themselves for the 
Prince, and many of the popish burghers, who fled to the 
castle, were obliged to surrender the next day on condition 
that their lives should be spared. “ But this conquest,” adds 
the historian, “was blemished with all kinds of disorder, 
insolence, and cruelty. Nineteen of the clergy were carried 
to Brill, and afterwards (except three who abjured the popish 
religion, together with the pastors of Heynoordt and Munster, 
and a certain friar, were, by order of the Admiral de la Marck, 
put to death in a contemptuous and cruel manner, without 
any regard to the Prince’s letters, who had most strictly 
required that all persons, as well spiritual as temporal, should 
be protected in their rights and privileges.” 

On the 25th of May, Zeirickzer was obliged by James 
Simonson de Rijk, then Admiral of Teraeer, to embrace the 
Prince’s cause ; and immediately the Reformed religion was 
publicly exercised. But, notwithstanding they were fighting 
for the cause of God, human passions soon discovered them- 
selves The images and altars were demolished and 

thrown out of the churches the evening before the sacrament, 
by the soldiers, in spite of their commander, who was Master 
of the Horse to the Prince. On the other hand, the people of 
Dort stipulated, before they would admit the Prince’s forces, 
or agree to declare Alva a public enemy, — ■“ that they might 
keep to the oath they had sworn to the King of Spain, as 
Count of Holland ; and be secured in all their rights and 


Within Sea Wails 


332 

privileges, without any alteration or diminution : that all 
degrees and conditions of men, whether spiritual or temporal, 
all monks, nuns, priests, all magistrates and other civil officers 
of high or low degree, should continue in .their functions, free 
and unmolested : that all the goods of the inhabitants should 
be protected : and that no churches, chapels, convents, or 
houses belonging to the clergy should be broken up, or in any 
manner injured.'' 

The first sermon preached by the Reformed was under 
a lime-tree in the Klevenier’s Doel : but that did not last 
long, nor would they be so contented. In a little time the 
images were thrown out of the churches, the altars were broken 
down, and the Reformed religion was publicly exercised. 

Haarlem abandoned the Spanish interest on the 3rd of 
July ; but by the treaty made with the Prince’s deputies it 
was likewise agreed that “no person, ecclesiastical or civil, 
within or belonging to the city, should be hurt or damaged 
in body or goods ; and that all the religious orders should 
continue in their convents in the free exercise of their religion, 
without damage or molestation.” 

The same day the Reformed at Horn desired of the magis- 
trates, by a written memorial, that they would grant them 
the great church to preach in for the future. But the answer 
returned them was that “ whilst their numbers were so small, 
they might make a shift with our Lady’s Church to which 
w^ere added, out of civility, certain reasons why it was more 
for their interest so to do. But this had no effect : on the 
contrary, one of the captains of the burghers, being informed 
what answer was given to their “ petition,” had the courage 
to go up to the council-chamber and ask them-^“ Do you say 
we are but few in number } If you do not immediately grant 
our request, I will beat the drum, and then you shall see how 
strong we are !” This bold speech alarmed them, and the 


333 


TJte Progress of Freedom : A Chronicle, 

church was granted, but on condition that the altars and 
images should be decently removed and laid up together 
in the south part of the building till it appeared how things 
would go. To this end they called together the next day 
all the carpenters and joiners, both Papists and Protestants, 
to prevent exceptions, and ordered them to put in execution 
the above-mentioned agreement. But most of them, who had 
no affection for that trumpery, handled it very roughly, 
hacking and hewing all that came in their way ; and if any 
of the images came down whole, they were treated in the 
same manner. When the church was thus cleared, a minister, 
named Leonard, preached the first sermon. After, that 
Clement Martinson, who dwelt at Embden, was recalled, and 
ordained minister. 

Several towns, as well in Gelderland and Over-Yssel, in 
the bishopric of Utrecht, and in Friezeland, were, at the same 
time, subdued by the Reforming party; and some of their 
own accord shook off the Spanish yoke ; and those very people 
of the Low Countries, who before had tamely (and almost 
motionless) looked upon the burning of their fellow-subjects, 
the massacreing of their magistrates, the trampling upon their 
laws and religion, and the dissolution, as it were, of the 
Commonwealth, resolved now at length to revenge what was 
past, and to ward off what was coming upon, or threatened 
against, them. 

“That we thus, though briefly,” adds the historian, in the 
summing up of these and many other particulars concern- 
ing the sudden revival and astonishing progress of the 
spirit of freedom at this time, — “that we thus touch upon 
the casting off the yoke of Spain, and the laying the first 
foundation of the civil liberty of Holland, is not without 
reason ; for upon these were afterwards built the liberty of 
conscience and the free exercise of religion which we now 


334 


Within Sea Walls, 


enjoy. To this also contributed the Prince’s resolution of 
protecting and securing even the papists themselves in 
their religion ; which resolution he again declared in the 
instructions he gave to Yonker Diedrik Sonoy, his deputy 
in Holland, requiring him, first of all, to use his utmost 
endeavours to deliver the towns of that province from Spanish 
slavery, and to restore to them their ancient liberties, rights 
and privileges ; and further, * to take care that the Word of 
God might be preached and published there, and the religion 
which was conformable to that Word tolerated in case the 
inhabitants generally, or any portion of them, desire it : but 
yet by no means to suffer that those of the Romish Church 
should be in any sort prejudiced, or that any impediment 
should be offered them in the exercise of their religion, till 
such time as he, the Prince, otherwise directed, unless in case 
of urgent necessity, and then not without the consent and 
direction of the governors and council of the place. 

“ The said Sonoy was likewise directed to do his best, in 
the meanwhile, that the people might live in peace and 
tranquillity together, .... Also, to oblige the magistrates 
and inhabitants to swear, among other things, — that they 
would by no means permit any person to be hindered or 
disturbed in preaching, or in reading, of the true Word of 
God, according to the prescription of the gospel ; or to be 
examined concerning his faith, or persecuted on that account 
by the Inquisition, or any placards relating to it ; and that in 
like manner, they would suffer those of the Romish religion 
to remain free and unmolested.” 

No apology need be offered by the writer for having thus 
grouped together in one chapter of this story, some of the 
instances of that surprising impulse which in so short a time 
was communicated from place to place with electric rapidity, 
and by which a whole people was roused from the lethargy 


335 


The Progress of Freedom : A Chronicle. 

of indifference or despair. And though some of the proceed- 
ings of the liberators of their country from its unbearable 
yoke of both temporal and spiritual despotism were tinged 
with intolerance and violence, and even, in some instances, 
with cruelty, the great wonder is that the actors in these 
scenes were in general so moderate and forbearing and 
forgiving, — especially considering the example which had 
been set them by their persecutors. It is worthy of remark, 
also, that even at this time of revolution, and in spite of 
numberless provocations, the people remained loyal to their 
monarch, despicable as they knew him to be, and were 
willing to attribute the miseries they had suffered to evil 
counsellors and barbarous under-governors, Alas ! they had 
more yet to suffer before the day of final triumph. They 
were now but putting on the harness. 




CHAPTER XLII. 

Morfi Extracts from Bina’s Journal. 

PRIL 1572. — After long procrastination, I again 
turn to you, my little book, to tell you of my 
joys and sorrows. I am very joyful to-day, for 
good news, almost too wonderful to be true, 
has been brought to us here in London. My 
sweet cousin Lysken and her husband, whom we 
mourned as having been cruelly murdered, were 
delivered from their impending doom by the 
valiant crews of the Prince’s fleet, who at the 
same time seized upon the town of Brill and 
took possession of it in the Prince’s name. This 
good news came in a hasty letter written by my 
sister Margaret’s betrothed, who had not time, 
or was not able, to give further particulars. But 
this happy intelligence has turned our mourning 
into dancing. My father is gone out to learn 
more. He thinks he can do this in PauPs Walk, where the 
merchants congregate. 

lie hath even now returned ; and his tidings are more 
surprising than we could even have imagined, only in dreams. 
He says that it is not only currently reported, but fully 



More Extracts fwm Ninels Journal. 337 

known that the fleet of Sea Beggars (as the Prince’s ships are 
called), which was so cruelly driven off from Dover when their 
crews were starving, did, in despair, make the attack upon 
Brill, of which we had before heard, and not only succeeded 
in the bold attempt, but that all over the country the people 
are declaring for the Prince and against the Duke of Alva. 
But this is not all ; for my father says that this news (together 
with some more sorrowful, concerning what the Duke’s army 
hath done in Rotterdam, and the wickedness practised there 
upon the peaceable inhabitants) has put all London into a 
great fermentation ; that the merchants and others are going 
about, gathering money, and buying powder and shot and 
guns, to send to the Prince, and to help on the deliverance of 
our poor country. He hears also that the English parliament 
at Westminster is crying out to the Queen to help in driving 
out the Spaniards from the Netherlands. But he knows not 
how this may be. 

♦ ♦ * * ♦ 

May . — The Lord is doing great things for us, whereof we 
may well be glad. Everywhere in Holland the people are 
rising up in aiding the Prince ; and it is admirable how merci- 
fully he desires to treat those who have been the persecutors 
and murderers of Protestants, now that he has the power of 
punishing them. 

There has been a great meeting of our countrymen to-day, 
— of those, I mean, who are living in London. They have 
from time to time sent over all the money they could spare, 
to help on the good work ; and now many of them have 
determined to return, and take part in it manfully. The 
Lord help them I My dear father would fain be going too ; 
but he is told that, for the present, he cannot be spared from 
his labours in England. And, indeed, he is at work almost 

z 


Within Sea Walls, 


338 

day and night ; and not without good effect, he hopes, — 
though those with whom he has to do are most uncertain 
to deal with, since, as he says, they know not their own minds 
from one day to another. 

« « « « » 

Very excellent news has my dear father brought to-day. 
Five hundred brave English soldiers have passed over to the 
Netherlands, commanded by Colonel Morgan, to the help 
of the Prince of Orange. And that Christian sea captain. 
Sir Humphrey Gilbert, who often has visited us, has also 
sailed with nine good ships for the same purpose. And this 
by consent of the Queen of England’s government ! This 
government hath also declared that as the Prince of Orange 
is a prince of the empire, the ports of this country shall no 
longer be shut against his cruisers. Alas, that all this talk 
of war and fighting should be written down in you, my book, 
as good news ! And yet I must call it so ; for methinks it is 
God Himself who has put it into the hearts of His faithful 
people to struggle against their oppressors and persecutors. 
And now what can such weak ones as I am do, but pray God 
to give success to His own cause } for surely these troubles are 
none of our countrymen’s seeking, — who would fain live in 
quiet and loyal obedience to the powers that be, if that were 
possible. But it was not; and now the cry should be, — 
“ Who will bring us into the strong city } Who will lead 
us back into Edom (our own Edom) ? Wilt not Thou, 
O God, who hadst cast us off.? And wilt not Thou, O 
God, go forth with our hosts .? Give us help from trouble; 
for vain is the help of man. Through God we shall do 
valiantly ; for He it is that shall tread down our enemies.” 

* * * * * 

Another letter from Paul Merula ; and he tells us what 


More Extracts from Nina's Journal. 339 

he knew not when he before wrote, that my poor long-lost 
cousin Karl has returned from Spain, and that he took a 
good part in the delivering of his sister and her husband from 
their cruel persecutors. The Lord reward him and Hans 
van Muler, and all others who helped in this good work ! 
He writes also that Lysken and the rest are now in Leyden 
under good protection. The Lord be praised for His great 
mercy ! 

♦ * ♦ * ♦ 

June . — I must needs write concerning those things of which 
my heart is fullest ; and what should that be, next to my God 
and Saviour, but the great things He is doing for my dear 
country Tidings have reached us that by the help of the 
brave Huguenot chief, Coligny, with two thousand soldiers, 
the great city of Mons has been taken by the Prince’s brother, 
Count Louis ; and that the persecuting Duke of Alva is driven 
to great extremities. Would that he would go home to Spain, 
and trouble the Netherlands no more ! 

My father thinks that ere long we shall be enabled to return 
to our own dear land, for the Prince writes to him that he can 
be more useful to the good cause there than here. I am glad 
of this ; for though I have cause to love England well, I love 
my native land still better. And though the broad Thames 
on which I can now look out when I lift my eyes from you, my 
little book, is pleasant enough, it is nothing to be compared 
with the rivers and canals at home, with the broad dykes to 
keep out the sea. And even this city of London, though larger 
than Antwerp, falls very short of it in almost all other respects. 
But then, here we may read the Scriptures and worship God 
in our own homes ; and this makes up for all. Oh how joyful 
to think that the time is coming when, in all the Netherlands 
also, there shall cease to be persecution. Alas ! they say that 
there is persecution even in England at this present time. I 


340 


Within Sea Walls. 


know not how this may be. I know only that we poor exiles 
have liberty of worship, and our own ministers to preach to 
us. And for this we are thankful. 

I wrote down on my last page that, next to religion, my 
heart was fullest of what concerns my dear country. But 
sister Agnes, who sometimes reads what I write, and has 
read this, does not approve of it. She does not know what 
our country has done for us (so she says), that we should be 
so fond of it. And besides, she thinks that between our God 
and it stand those whom we ought best to love of all on earth. 
Oh, sister Agnes ! as though I had forgotten these ! Are 
they not part of our country ? But I know how it is. The 
young Englishman who comes here so often, and who loves 
Agnes, and whom Agnes loves so dearly! He has made 
almost an Englishwoman of her already. 

And I do not forget my dear father, and my sisters and 
good Aunt Philippa; nor even nurse Ursel and Jan. Ah, 
well ! and I do not forget dear old Antwerp, either ; and 
I think of Antwerp whenever I read that psalm of David, 
where he says, If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right 
hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let 
my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth ! ” 

Oh, I do so long for home again ; and Lysken, my dear 
cousin Lysken, I would hear from her own lips the story of 
her strange rescue. I think, too, that when those who knew 
me once, a few years ago, see me, they will not know me now 
that I am so altered — ^having felt no more of my old weakness 
since I was so helped to bestir myself when my dear father 
was in trouble. Methought, even then, I heard a voice, 
saying, ‘‘Arise, He calleth thee.” And I know now that 
it was so. 

My father has just come in from London, with more 
despatches, and says that so far as he can judge, he shall 






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1A'4'5 




TH£ MARRIAGE IN CHELSEA CHURCH 














More Extracts from Ninas Journal. 343 

be ready to leave England in three months’ time. He bids 
us therefore make preparations for returning home. 

* ♦ * * ♦ 

July. I guessed how it would be. On finding that our stay 
here was to be so short, sister Agnes was in sore trouble. 
She loves England so well that she desires to make it her own 
home. For a week or more she did nothing but sigh, and 
was so troubled that she could not rest. At last came out 
the great secret, that she desired to be the wife of the young 
London merchant, Anthony Heywood, who, with our dear 
father’s consent, had, some time past, made love to her. Master 
Anthony, also, is loth to lose sight of my sister; and he has to- 
day made suit to my father that the marriage may be no longer 
delayed. And so it is to be. Next month dear Agnes will 
be wife to an Englishman, and will no more be of our house- 
hold. Dear Agnes! She will be happy, I think, for her 
husband who is to be, is of good repute as a merchant ; 
and he is a true Christian man, and a very pleasant gentle- 
man. I would that he were a countryman of ours ; but we can- 
not have all things as we would. And my dear father said 
pleasantly to me, only yesterday, when we were talking 
together of Master Heywood, Ah, Nina, next to being 
a Netherlander, I would fain myself be an Englishman.” 

So we are now all very busy in preparing for this marriage, 
and I shall have no more time for you, my book, until it 
be over. 

^ * ♦ * • ♦ 

August. Dear sister Agnes was married yesterday, in Chelsea 
Church, and is now Mistress Heywood. We had a grand 
feast after the wedding, and this morning her husband hath 
taken her to her new home in the Chepe. My heart is too 
full, I cannot write more now — only this — “The Lord bless 


344 


Within Sea Walls, 


them and keep them : the Lord make His face to shine upon 
them, and be gracious unto them : the Lord lift up His 
countenance upon them, and give them peace 1'* 

« « « « « 

September, Since I last wrote in this journal, I have been 
so busy as to have had but little time that could be called my 
own. And now, when I look back on what I wrote in these 
last pages, I blame myself for so readily forgetting, even for 
a moment, the great sorrows of others. But I knew not then 
what has since been told : — 

How that near the end of last month was a dreadful 
massacre of Protestants in France, beginning at Paris, — men, 
women and children being slain by hundreds and thousands, 
because they obeyed the gospel of Christ. And this was done 
by order of the king who, only a few days before, had written 
a letter with his own hand, in which he engaged to sustain 
the Protestant cause, both in France and the Netherlands; 
and who had sent French troops into Flanders to assist the 
cause of religious freedom there ! Yet this man, it is said, 
stood at his palace windows, and shot down with an arquebus 
his own faithful subjects, as though they had been wild beasts, 
for no other crime than that they worshipped God and 
believed in Christ, according to the Scriptures. O Lord I how 
long shall the blood of Thy martyrs cry to Thee from the 
altar t Shall not the death of Thy saints be avenged ? 

« « « « « 

My father says that the news of this event has filled all 
London with indignation ; and that even the Queen is greatly 
distressed and angry. He tells us that when the French 
ambassador appeared at court but a few days ago, the Queen 
and all her ladies and her courtiers and the ministers of state, 
were dressed in deep mourning, and that the ambassador passed • 


More Extracts from Nina's JournaL 345 

through the crowd without one pleasant look, until he was 
in the Queen’s presence ; and that then she told him in full 
what her thoughts were of these barbarous murders. There 
are some who think (says my father) that the Queen will now 
surely take the part more openly of the Protestants both 
in France and the Netherlands. But he himself thinks that 
she will suffer her anger to pass away in words, as caring 
not much for the reformation of religion. Yet has she ordered 
Sir Thomas Gresham to raise thirty or forty thousand pounds, 
and take it to Hamburg for the use of the Prince of Orange, 
Methinks, however, it is better to trust in the Lord than to 
put confidence in princes, or queens either. Nay, I am sure, 

« « « « « 

1573* January. In Leyden. 

We arrived here two months since : but I have had little 
time, until now, for writing. It is three months or more since 
we left England, and my sister Agnes. The parting was 
a sharp one ; but she hath a good and kind and godly husband. 
The Lord bless and keep them ! We came by way of Ostend, 
and then on to Ghent, where we stayed some days with the 
good burgomaster and his wife and dear Paulina ; and from 
thence we heard further particulars of the martyrdom of our 
sainted brother Guy Regis, and of the death of his mother. 
We heard also, that the Beguinage had been disturbed by 
rioters, and the, nuns compelled to take shelter in the city — 
some three or four having been received into the burgomaster’s 
house, where they were treated with much kindness. 

PTom Ghent we passed on to Antwerp, where, finding our 
old house to have been sold by those who iniquitously took 
possession of it, we stayed not long — my father deciding to 
come hither and wait the current of events : the more so, as 
his brother (my uncle Gerard) and his family are here. 


Within Sea Walls. 


346 

Here also we have the society of Paul Merula, — much to 
my sister Margaret’s contentment, and that of my sweet 
cousin Lysken and her husband, who are worthy of all our 
loves. It is sorrowful to see how the cruelties practised upon 
them both wore down their bodily strength, which they have 
yet not recovered. And yet my cousin tells me that never 
had she more bright and comfortable and loving sight and 
converse with the dear Saviour Jesus, than when she was 
imprisoned in a convent cell, and in daily expectation of the 
doom which had been passed upon her. And herein was the 
promise again fulfilled, “ When thou passest through the 
waters, I will be with thee ; and through the rivers, they shall 
not overflow thee ; when thou walkest through the fire thou 
shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon 
thee.” 

There are also others here with whom one would be con- 
tent to live ; and if our poor country were but in quiet 
But it seems as though this would never be. Lord, be 
Thou our shield and 'defence; and help us to say, as the 
great reformer Zwingle wrote, — 

“Though Satan’s net be o’er us tossed. 

We feel Thy hand, nor shall be lost. 

His shafts, his voice, alarm no more, 

For here we lie, Thy cross before.” 




CHAPTER XLIII. 


Th^ xif 

N the 26th of May, 1574, an army of eight 
thousand men, commanded by the Spanish 
general Valdez, encompassed the beautiful city 
of Leyden, which for the second time was to be 
exposed to all the horrors of a siege. The con- 
troversy was now fast hastening to its final and 
inevitable issue. For long the people of the 
Provinces, while struggling against the power 
of the Romish Inquisition and the tyranny of 
regents and governors, had maintained their 
loyalty to their sovereign ruler. By this time, 
however, it must have been seen that no hope ot 
either civil or religious liberty could be enter- 
tained while Philip of Spain retained a hold upon 
the distracted country. 

As has been elsewhere written, “ Warfare at the best is 
terrible and deplorable. It is terrible, for it inflicts countless 
miseries, not only upon those who are actively engaged in it, 
but also on hundreds of thousands who have neither voice nor 
part in it. It is deplorable, if only for the evil passions which 
it calls into fierce, unholy exercise. Yet there is a best as well 



Within Sea Walls, 


343 

as a worst in war. If warfare must be, it is best when arms 
are taken up in defence of the right, and laid down when that 
right has been obtained ; best, when those who are thus en- 
gaged in defending a righteous cause can appeal to God, and 
say with sincerity, ‘ Lord, Thou knowest that we are for peace; 
but men of evil minds will not let us be at peace — best, when 
the men who fight are nerved with a consciousness that they 
are battling against oppression, and wrong, and tyranny." 

It was against these evils that the people of Holland and 
her sister provinces were struggling. “ The tyrant,” they said, 
“would rather stain every river and brook with our blood, 
and hang our bodies upon every tree in the country, than 
not feed to the full his vengeance, and steep himself to the 
lips in our misery. Therefore we have taken up arms against 
him, to free ourselves, our wives, and children from his blood- 
thirsty hands. If he prove too strong for us, we will rather 
die an honourable death, and leave a praiseworthy fame, than 
bend our necks and reduce our dear fatherland to such slavery. 
Herein are all our cities pledged to each other, to stand every 
siege, to dare the utmost, to endure every possible misery, 
yea, rather to set fire to all our homes, and be consumed with 
them into ashes together, than ever to submit to the decrees 
of this cruel tyrant.” 

The Duke of Alva was the cruel tyrant here spoken of, 
and with sufficient reason ; for he himself had boasted that 
he had caused eighteen thousand six hundred inhabitants 
of the Provinces to be executed during the period of his 
government. And yet, tyrant as he was, he was but the tool 
of another and still more cruel tyrant ; and now that he had 
been removed, and was replaced by another, the people knew 
by bitter experience that in eveiy^ regency it had been, and 
still was, Philip of Spain, who was the instigator and main- 
spring of all the miseries they had endured. 


349 


TJie Siege of Leyden, 

And they struggled for more than national and personal 
freedom. “ As long as there is a living man left in the 
country,” said they, " we will contend for our liberty and our 
religion.” Their motto might have been, “ Pro aris et focisy ' — 
for our altars and our hearths. And the altars first, — the 
right of serving God. The questions to be decided were, — 
should God and God only be worshipped through His Divine 
Son, the only Mediator ; — or should the people be compelled 
to bow the knee to the Virgin Mary, as a better and surer 
intercessor, and to the saints of the Romish Church, and to 
the hosts of heaven ? — should the bread and wine of the 
communion of the Lord’s supper be the simple and touching 
commemoration of His death, or be made the means of a 
deadly delusion, and the foundation of an idolatrous rite 1 — 
should the Holy Scriptures be circulated and read throughout 
the land ; or should the very possession of the word of life be 
the sure passport to a martyr’s death } — should persecution 
be continued till the gallows, and the pit, and the fire had 
become settled institutions in the country, part and parcel 
of its state religion ; or should a wise toleration or a wiser 
equality permit every man to worship the Father according 
to the dictates of his conscience ? 

So the inhabitants of Leyden, with their countrymen in 
other cities, determined rather to continue what to men of 
little faith must have seemed an unequal, a desperate, and a 
hopeless contest, than suffer the yoke of priestly bondage 
to be again laid on their shoulders. “It was easier now,” 
says the historian, “ for the Hollanders to go to their graves 
than to the mass.” 

The details of the siege of Leyden are probably familiar to 
many of our readers, and for the few selected particulars to 
be recorded here we once more borrow the pen of the young 
journalist Nina Franck. 



CHAPTER XLIV. 

Inina’s Journal during the Siege. 

HAT was a happy man who could say, “The 
Lord is my light and my salvation ; whom shall 
I fear ? The Lord is the strength of my life ; 
of whom shall I be afraid ? Though a host 
should encamp against me, my heart shall not 
fear ; though war should rise against me, yet 
will I be confident.” 

0 Lord, a host is encamped against us, and 
we are but few and weak : be Thou our helper. 

1 thank God* that the people of Leyden are 
not wanting in courage, and that their trust is 
not so much in an arm of flesh as in the Lord 
Jehovah. And they place reliance too on the 
good Prince of Orange, who, though he be not 
with us in the city, is at no great distance, — his 
head-quarters being at Rotterdam and Delft, — 

and who has written to the governor of the city, encouraging 
him to hold out, and assuring him that, though his hands are 
over full of work for his country, he will devise some means 
for our deliverance. 

« « « « « 



351 


NincHs Journal during the Siege. 

Our house is in one of the great squares of the city, and 
not far from the old Roman tower. Before this siege began 
1 used to climb up the hill to the tower, with Ursel always, 
and sometimes with our faithful Jan as a guard, to look round' 
on the beautiful country on all sides. But my dear father 
has forbidden me to do this now, lest some missile should do 
me harm. Dear father ! he is ever watchful. But I have 
more fear for him than for myself; for he is constantly ex- 
posing himself on the walls. He has taken the command of 
a company of the defenders, and Kasper Arnoldzoon is his 
lieutenant. While poor Jan, though he has but one arm, 
would not be refused enrolling himself. Methinks when 
cripples can fight for liberty, it must be hard if liberty does 
not come at last. I may put down here that Jan’s dame 
came with us from Antwerp, and has undertaken to be cook 
for our family. 

We are not a large family, truly. There are but my father, 
and Aunt Philippa, and Margaret, and myself, with Ursel, 
and Jan. and his good wife; yet will there soon be more 
hungry mouths than helping hands, I fear me. For there is 
talk that provisions will soon be scarce enough, even as they 
were last year in Haarlem, where the people had to feed on 
linseed and rape-seed, on cats and dogs, and such rats and 
mice as they could catch, and at last were compelled to make 
soup of horses’ hides and ox-hides, with grass and nettles 
from the graveyards, and the weeds which grew between 
the street stones for pot-herbs. I know not how this may be, 
but I know where it is written, “ Man shall not live by bread 
alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of God’s mouth.” 
I would that all had faith to receive this. 

My sweet cousin Lysken, — it is sad to think what her 
tortures were in that convent at Brill. Even now her bodily 
sufferings are great ; and it needs but to see her to be roused 


352 


Within Sea Walls, 


to righteous indignation against that religion which can inflict 
such deeds of cruelty. Did not our dear Lord say, By their 
fruits ye shall know them V * — and it must needs be an evil 
tree to bring forth such fruit as malice, and hatred, and 
cruelty. And in after times, even more than now, will it be 
seen and known that we in this country are fighting a holy 
fight for truth, and justice, and mercy, and God s free word. 

My poor uncle Gerard is visibly declining. He still holds 
the post procured for him some months since, and the sound 
of his musical chimes cheers his spirits : but the tumult of 
this siege is more than he can well bear, and he daily says 
(and we think it may be too true) that he shall not see the 
end of it. He is full of despondency, likewise, concerning 
the great issue of the controversy. We do what we can to 
raise his spirits, but with little success. Yet is he a good man. 

With my uncle and cousin is now living the godly widow 
Van Muler, with her younger children. I have cause to love 
her much, for she was of great comfort to me when I was at 
Ghent, awaiting my dear father’s trial. She came hither on 
hearing of the illness of her friend, my cousin Lysken, after 
her escape from the persecutors, hoping also to be with her 
Hans. But this was denied her, by reason of Hans continuing 
in the Prince’s fleet, as also my cousin Karl, who is with him. 

We are greatly comforted in our present state of uncertainty 
and danger by the presence of our dear friend, Paul Merula; 
and we have wonderful assistance, too, in the Divine and 
better life, the true Gospel being preached in almost all the 
churches, — the popish images, and vestments, and masses 
having been swept away and abolished, to give place to the 
Holy Scriptures. And, strange though it may seem, it is 
yet true, that th^re is now hardly a papist to be found in the 
city,-— no, nor indeed throughout the land,— that is to say, 
among the Netherlanders. For those who were Catholics 


Nina's Journal during the Siege. 353 

before the great heat of these late persecutions have been 
taught by those very means to search into the truth of the 
Reformed doctrines, and to embrace them, as was the case 
with dear Aunt Philippa. And even Ursel, my poor nurse, 
though once so ignorant and superstitious, has left off praying 
to dead saints, and rejoices in a living Saviour. 

* « » ♦ ♦ 

June 26 . — Leyden has been now one month encompassed 
about by the enemy ; and though they are not able to get 
an entrance, they watch so closely that no provisions from 
without can enter. Indeed, the city is so strictly invested, 
that no communication can be held with any withoutside 
the walls, except by means of carrier pigeons ; and it is now 
forbidden that any man, under any pretence, shall attempt 
to pass through the city gates. 

* * #F ♦ * 

A message has been received from the Spanish general, 
offering pardon to the citizens if they will but open the gates 
and accept the king’s authority. Also some letters have been 
sent to certain people in the city from their friends in the 
king’s army, — to be read to the citizens at large, — imploring 
and advising them to submit to the king’s mercy, and to take 
pity upon their poor old fathers, their daughters, and their 
wives. But these messages have no effect, only to make our 
brave defenders determined to hold out to the last. For, 
say they, were we weak enough to accept the king’s pardon, 
who shall vouch for the fulfilment of his promises? “Has 
he ever kept any such promises?” they ask ; and “Is it not 
known that it is one of his rules that no faith need be kept 
with heretics ?” And as to the letters that have been 
received, the citizens say that the best pity they can show 
to poor old fathers and daughters and wives, is to keep them 


354 


Within Sea Walls, 


from the tender mercies of the besiegers. And truly I think 
SO too ; for “ the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.” 

So those in authority have written this Latin line on a 
sheet of paper, and sent it to the Spanish general : — 

“ Fistula dulce caiiit, volitcrem cu 7 n decipit ancepsl^ 

Which means, as Paul Merula tells Margaret and me, 

“ The fowler’s pipe sounds sweetly enough when he wishes 
to snare the bird.” 

« « * « « 

June 30. — Poor Leyden is feeling more and more the 
terrors of a siege. A little more than a month has passed 
away, and the burgomasters with the military authorities have 
seen needful to put the whole city on a strict allowance of 
food. No provisions are to be sold in the shops or markets, 
indeed there are none to be sold, as the proper officers have 
already bought up all the meal and flour, and beasts for 
slaughter, which are served out day by day to the people, 
both rich and poor alike. Half a pound of meat and half a 
pound of bread is allowed to each man, and a less quantity 
for the women and children, according to age. Paul Merula 
tells us that there are some who complain of being thus 
stinted in food. It seems strange to me that any who are 
willing to fight on behalf of the Bread of Life should think 
so much of the bread that perisheth. 

♦ ♦ * * ♦ 

July. — Uncle Gerard is daily declining in strength ; and 
there is but little hope that he will hold out much longer. 
He has given up his office, being no longer able to climb the 
steep stairs of the belfry, and having not sufficient strength 
to perform his work, even were he there. His has truly 
been a troublous life, if looked at in the dim and obscure 
light of this world. Yet surely he hath not lived in vain. 


Kinds Journal during the Siege. 355 

and in the bright sunshine of eternity will doubtless be shown 
that 

♦ * * ♦ ♦ 

Even while I was writing of my uncle Gerard, came a 
messenger (one of the young Mulers) from my sweet cousin 
Lysken, saying that her father was suddenly taken with 
severe pains, and desiring me to hasten to her. So I went. 

Dear Lysken was in great trouble, yet divinely supported. 
Her father is, doubtless, stricken for death — such death as is 
left to the Christian in the dissolution of the mortal body. 
His pains were not so great as they had been, and his mind 
was clear, so that he was able to give expression to his joy 
of faith. These were some of his words : — He lamented much 
that he had been so unworthy a servant of the Great Master ; 
so fearful and half-hearted ; so desiring his own ease and 
quiet rather than to be up and doing and suffering for Christ. 
Yet he believed, yea he knew, that though so unworthy, the 
good Lord had pardoned and accepted him, through His 
dear Son., And then he repeated some verses to which his 
carillons had been set, — such as these : — 

Lo ! at the door I hear death’s knock I 

Shield me, O Lord, my strength and rock. 

Thy hand once nailed upon the tree, 

Jesus, uplift, and shelter me. 

From guilt and sin may I be free ! 

My mouth shall' sing alone of Thee, 

Oh, may I die since I am Thine, 

Thy home is made for faith like mine.” 

Then afterwards he spoke of the righteousness of the cause 
for which we are fighting; and offered a prayer that God 
would prosper our arms, saying, when he had finished his 
prayer, — in the words of one of the prophets : — For the 


Within Sea Walls, 


35 ^ 

vision is yet for an appointed time ; but in the end it shall 
speak, and shall not lie. Though it tarry, wait for it ; because 
it will surely come, it will not tarry.” 

After this, dear uncle fell into a quiet slumber ; and I said 
what I could to comfort Lysken. And then came in my 
father and Margaret. Presently my sister and I returned 
home, leaving my father with his brother and niece. 

But how strange it seemed, in passing out of that house of 
mourning, and from the solemn scene of a death-chamber, to 
hear the sounds of warfare, and to see armed men hurrying to 
and fro, intent on destroying the lives of their fellow- creatures 
by hundreds and thousands, when the natural fading away of 
one solitary human existence affects us so painfully ! 

Six hours later , — Our dear father has just returned, full of 
serious thought. Uncle Gerard is dead. He died most 
peacefully. I must see my sweet Lysken to-morrow. I can 
write no more now. 

* * ♦ ♦ * 

August , — It is a month since I opened you, my book ; my 

thoughts have been so taken up with other and graver 

matters. First, there was our poor uncle’s burial, and our 

cousin Lysken to console. She sorrows much for her father, 
yet not as those who have no hope. Nay, she rejoices that 
one whom she loves is free from pain and care and grief, 
while she thinks that she will not be long parted from her 
father. Not long, truly, though she live out her full span of 
life, which I trust she may, if so it be God’s will. 

Next; there is work in Leyden for all to do who have 
hands and hearts.. The hospitals are daily becoming more 
full of poor wounded men, who need loving nursing ; and the 
women of this city have undertaken this duty. I thank God 
that I, who, but a few years back, was so weakly and so 


357 


NincCs Journal dtiring the Siege. 

indulged also, that I thought it next to impossible to wait 
on myself in the smallest thing, should now be enabled to 
perform this work for others. 

♦ » * ♦ ♦ 

The siege continues ; and even the bravest of our defenders 
have longing desires for it fo end. Almost all provisions are 
gone ; and those who, at first, thought it hard to be put on a 
modest allowance of meat and bread made of good corn flour, 
must now needs be content with malt cake, which is all the 
food that is left ; and of this there is but a scant supply. I 
can now better understand that pitiful story of the siege of 
Samaria, told in the Bible. And methinks if a prophet were 
to arise to tell us that to-morrow a measure of fine flour 
should be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a 
shekel, there would be many to cry out, with the unbelieving 
nobleman, — “ If the Lord would make windows in heaven, 
then might this thing be !” Lord, increase our faith, and give 
us strength to bear our present affliction, — yea, even to die, 
rather than take the wicked counsels given by some, to throw 
open the gates, and take chance of the mercy of the enemy. 
Surely the Lord will appear for us if we be but true to Him 
and to ourselves. But it will be in His own time, which is 
the best time. 

* ♦ ♦ ♦ » 

A letter has been received on this day (the I2th of August), 
written by the Prince of Orange, encouraging the citizens to 
continue their brave resistance, and promising speedy relief. 
And it is now well known in the city that the Prince is 
determined to cut through the noble dykes along the Meuse 
and the Yssel, and so let in the sea, and that also the great 
sluices at Rotterdam, Schiedam, and Delftshaven shall be 
opened for the same purpose. The enemy, it is thought, will 


Within Sea Walls, 


358 

then be compelled to retire, since the whole country round 
Leyden will be flooded. There will be great loss in this, and 
some peril also, as it is well known that a great part of the 
country is lower than the sea, which is only kept out by those 
great works — the dykes. And if these be once pierced 
through, where will the destruction end ? But the Prince has 
obtained the willing consent of the great estates of the 
Provinces ; for say they, “ Better a drowned land than a lost 
land and they say also, that once get rid of the Spanish 
tyrants and persecutors, there will both time and means be 
found for rebuilding the dykes and getting rid of the water. 

♦ • * ♦ * « 

August the 22 nd . — Our people are once more near despair, 
save those who have that strong faith which can remove 
mountains. They say that they have held out now two 
months with food, and one month without food, — that there 
is malt cake for only four more days, and that then will come 
not only hunger, but starvation. Lord, we cry unto Thee 1 
Have mercy upon us, for we are ready to die. Our strength 
is dried up ; our straits are very sore ! 

It is pitiful to see the wan and pinched faces of the women 
and children, and how patiently they bear the cruel pangs of 
hunger ! 

* * ♦ * * 

Another letter from the Prince to-day, brought, as all 
others have been, by a carrier pigeon, — saying that the dykes 
are pierced, and that the water is rising within them. There 
is now only one other great outer barrier which separates the 
city from the sea. Methinks it is strange that what would in 
time of peace and quiet be looked upon as ruin to this city 
and country, should now be eagerly desired as their salvation. 



THE LETTER OF THE PRINCE OF ORANGE READ IN THE MARKET-PLACE OF LEYDEN, 








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Ninds Journal during the Siege, 361 

Same date : evening . — There have been strange doings in 
Leyden to-day. The glad news of which I have written as 
above, have given to our distressed people a holiday ; — it has 
been more sad than joyful, seeing how full of misery the city 
is : yet there have been sounds of rejoicing. The bells of the 
churches were set ringing as soon as the Prince’s letter was 
read in the market-place ; and the streets were full of music 
from all sorts of instruments, playing lively airs which have 
not been heard for many a long day. Guns also were fired, 
as though to testify of some great victory, whereat, I should 
think, the Spaniards greatly marvelled. Better than all these 
jubilant sounds, which yet had some of the true spirit of 
gratitude to God ; — but better than these, the voice of joy 
and thanksgiving was heard from many hundreds of habita- 
tions ; and the churches were thronged with worshippers. It 
seems, indeed, as though we may now hope to re-echo the 
words of David : — “ When the Lord turned again the captivity 
of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our 
mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing.” 
But I can write no more now, 

« « « « « 

Here end our extracts from Nina Franck’s journal ; for on 
that same day of writing she was stricken with weakness and 
great bodily pain, from which she recovered but slowly, after 
the events to be recorded in the succeeding chapters liad 
transpired, and when the lamine and other terrible hardships 
incident to the siege, which, in common with otliers, she had 
been called upon to endure, had passed away, except from 
the memory of the sufferers. 



CHAPTER XLV. 

Mlore about “The Beggars of the $ea.” 

[IE hopes so confidently expressed in the last 
of our extracts from Nina’s journal were 
doomed to disappointment. Instead of the 
speedy deliverance anticipated, the suffering 
and starving citizens of Leyden had yet a 
full month to wait ere that deliverance came* 
For a little while we must leave them to battle 
with and endure their sore trials, while we turn 
to other and more stirring scenes. 

Floating over the broad expanse of flooded 
land between the outermost broken dykes 
previously mentioned, and those inner ones 
which still protected both Leyden and the 
besiegers, was a fleet of two hundred vessels 
of various sizes, and variously manned. From 
the rigging of these vessels the beleaguered city 
could probably be seen at the distance of some seven or eight 
miles ; so also could the intervening obstacles which opposed 
the further progress of the fleet, and which was thus 
condemned to inaction. Laden as these vessels were with 
abundance of provisions for the distressed citizens, it was 



More about The Beggars of the SeaT 363 

grievous to think that days, if not weeks, must elapse before 
that relief could be administered, even if the expedition 
should eventually be crowned with success ; and that in the 
meantime all the inhabitants of that once joyous and still 
beautiful city were languishing or perishing with hunger. 
Not to dwell on this, however, we turn to a little group on 
the deck of one of the vessels, and recognise in them three 
of the actors in some of the scenes already described, — 
namely, the pastor Junius, Hans van Muler, and Karl Franck, 
— now in earnest conversation. 

“ And you thought not of Him,” said the preacher, sadly, 
“ who has told us not to fear those who can only kill the body, 
and can do no more ; but to fear Him who can cast both 
body and soul into hell ” 

A low murmured response from the penitent Karl, whose 
tearful and grief-marked countenance showed the sufferings 
of remorse he endured, acknowledged the justice of the 
reproving question. 

“ It is a base return for all His love and agonies for us ” 
continued the pastor, “when our poor weak natures give 
way under the torment of bodily pain, and cause our lips to 
deny His gospel. It was not thus that He suffered, being 
tempted. Ah, if Jesus had been thus overpowered by bodily 
anguish, and hearkened to the taunt, ‘ If Thou be the Christ, 
the King of Israel, save Thyself, and come down from the 
cross,’ think what had become of the sin-laden world.” 

“ Poor Karl is already bowed down with grief, sir,” said 
Hans, respectfully and tenderly, at the same time throwing 
his arm around the neck of his weeping friend ; “and,” added 
he, “ he has laid his confession of sin at the foot of the cross. 
Will not this suffice } ” 

“ It is for this that I remind him once more of his grievous 
sin, that I may but the more magnify the grace of our Lord 


Within Sea Walls. 


364 

Jesus Christ,” rejoined the preacher. “There is mercy with 
Him, that He may be feared ; and with Him is plenteous 
redemption. And He shall redeem His Israel from all 
their transgressions — all. Why, the very name borne by 
our barque should remind us of the extent of Christ’s 
pardoning love. Did not Peter thrice deny his Lord, — and 
was not he restored ? ” 

“You think, then, sir, that without acquiring new guilt our 
poor Karl may join with us this day in our communion of the 
Lord’s supper.?” said Hans. 

The pastor smiled. “ Whom the Lord forgives. He forgives 
freely and fully,” said he, “ and their past guilt He remembers 
no more.” 

That same day (it was the Lord’s day) a solemn but touch- 
ing and interesting scene took place on the open deck of 
“The Peter and Paul,” when a table was seen spread with the 
material elements of the Christian commemorative rite, and 
the captain, with the larger number of his crew, united, as 
brethren in the Saviour, in showing forth their Lord’s death. 
It was the more solemn in that a penitent brother was received 
into the Church, after having, through craven fear and 
intensity of torture, become for a time a renegade to his 
Protestant faith. 

Here and there throughout the fleet that day were similar 
observances witnessed. Not, however, in every vessel. There 
were, for instance, several which had recently joined the 
Beggars of the Sea, as the Prince’s fleet continued to be 
called. These were manned by eight hundred hardy sailors 
from Zealand. “ Wild and ferocious,” they are described as 
being, “seamed, hacked, and even maimed, in the unceasing 
conflicts in which their lives had passed. Wearing crescents 
in their caps, with the inscription, ‘ Rather Turkish than 
Popish;’ renowned far and wide as much for their ferocity 


More about “ The Beggars of the SeaP 365 

as for their nautical skill, the appearance of these wildest of 
the Sea Beggars was both eccentric and terrific. They were 
known never to give nor to take quarter; for they went to 
mortal combat only, and had sworn to spare neither noble 
nor simple, neither king, kaiser, nor pope, should they fall 
into their power.’' No Christian observances or ordinances 
were theirs, we may be sure ; they were as much heathens 
as their namesakes of the southern seas were found to be two 
hundred years later in the world’s history. Such, however, 
were some of the instruments used for the working out of 
His designs, and the deliverance of His people, by Him who 
“ maketh the wrath of man to praise Him,” and “ hath made 
all things for Himself ; yea, even the wicked for the day 
of evil.” 

It must be left for secular histories to tell how this fleet 
of two hundred vessels slowly progressed in their work of 
deliverance, — how its leaders and crews overcame resistance, 
and cut through dyke after dyke; how the sea gradually 
advanced nearer and nearer to the besieged city, and how the 
vessels followed on the sullen waves, floating over what had 
a few weeks before been flourishing fields, now submerged, 
and steering their way onward amidst the tops of trees and 
the ruins of farm-houses, with their surrounding buildings 
and orchards ; how again and again a vehement east wind 
drove back the waves, and left the vessels stranded in mud 
and saturated soil, causing the deliverers almost to despair of 
accomplishing the enormously difficult task on which they 
had staked their lives; how one fort after another of the 
besiegers was taken, and the Spanish outposts were driven 
in towards the city walls; how villages, deserted by their 
inhabitants, were fired ; how days and weeks thus passed 
away, so that though it was on the 3rd of August that the 
first dyke had been cut through in the presence of the Prince 


366 Within Sea Walls, 

of Orange, the end of September had arrived, and the object 
was still unattained. 

And meanwhile, as though to try to the utmost the faith 
of His people, the Lord saw fit to strike His principal instru- 
ment in this enterprise with sudden and prostrating sickness. 
Fever had seized upon William of Orange, his country’s 
deliverer, as he was called, and he could do nought but lie 
tossing and moaning upon his uneasy couch at Rotterdam. 
“ There he lay,” we are told, “ utterly prostrate in body, and 
with mind nearly agitated to delirium, by the perpetual and 
almost unassisted schemes which he was constructing. Relief, 
not only for Leyden, but for the whole country, now appa- 
rently sinking into the abyss, was the vision which he pursued, 
as he tossed upon his restless couch. His attendants were in 
despair ; for it was necessary that his mind should for a time 
be spared the agitation of business. The physicians who 
attended him agreed, as to his disorder, only in this, — that it 
was the result of mental fatigue and melancholy, and could 
be cured only by removing all distressing and perplexing 
subjects from his thoughts. But all the physicians in the 
world could not have succeeded in turning his attention for 
an instant from the great cause of his country. Leyden lay, 
as it were, anxious and despairing at his feet, and it was 
impossible for him to close his ears to her cry.” 

We must forbear from further description. It is enough to 
say that ere long the Prince was restored to his despairing 
people, and that the cry of distress, to which he was unable 
to respond with help, was even then entering into the ears of 
the Lord of Sabaoth. Let us now return for a moment or 
two to the beleaguered city. 



CHAPTER XLVI. 

lean's Extremity. 

CTOBER had commenced, and help was yet dis- 
tant, even if it were still approaching. “The 
burghers,” we are told, “ had been in a state of 
uncertainty for many days, being aware that 
the fleet had set forth for their relief, but know- 
ing full well the thousand obstacles which 't 
had to surmount. They had guessed its pro- 
gress by the illumination from the blazing 
villages, they had heard its salvoes of artillery 
on its arrival at North Aa ; but since then all 
had been dark and mournful again, hope and 
fear, in sickening alternation, di.‘^tracting every 
breast. They knew that the wind was un- 
favourable, and at the dawn of each day every 
eye was turned wistfully to the vanes of the 
steeples. So long as the easterly breeze prevailed they felt, 
as they anxiously stood on towers and house-tops, that they 
must look in vain for the welcome ocean. 

“ Yet, while patiently waiting, they were literally starving. 
Bread, malt-cake, horse-flesh, had entirely disappeared ; dogs, 
cats, rats, other vermin were e.steer^ed luy-'ie^, A 



Within Sea Wails. 


368 

number of cows, kept as long as possible for their milk, still 
remained; but a few were killed from day to day, and dis- 
tributed in minute proportions, hardly sufficient to support 
life, among the famishing population. Starving wretches 
swarmed daily around the shambles where these cattle 
were slaughtered, while the hides were chopped and boiled, 

and eagerly devoured The green leaves were stripped 

from the trees, every living herb was converted into human 
food ; but these expedients could not avert starvation. 

‘‘The daily mortality was frightful, — infants starved to 
death at the breast, — mothers dropped down dead in the 
streets with their dead children in their arms. In many a 
house the watchmen in their rounds found a whole family 
of corpses — father, mother, and children — side by side; for 
a disorder called the plague, naturally engendered of hardship 
and famine, now came, as if in kindness, to abridge the agony 
of the people. This pestilence stalked at noonday through 
the city, and the inhabitants fell like grass beneath the scythe. 
From six thousand to eight thousand human beings sank 
before the scourge alone; yet the people resolutely held 
out, — women and men mutually encouraging each other to 
resist the entrance of their foreign foes, — an evil more hor- 
rible than pest or famine. . . . Leyden was sublime in its 
despair. 

“ A few murmurs were, however, occasionally heard at the 
stedfastness of the magistrates, and a dead body was placed 
at the door of the burgomaster, as a silent witness against 
his inflexibility. A party of the more faint-hearted even 
assailed him with threats and reproaches as he passed through 
the streets. A crowd had gathered around him as he reached 
a triangular place in the centre of the town, into which many 
of the principal streets emptied themselves, and upon one 
side of which stood the church of Saint Pancras, with its high 


Man's Extremity, 369 

brick tower surmounted by two pointed turrets, and with two 
ancient lime-trees at its entrance. There stood the burgo- 
master, a tall, haggard, imposing figure, with dark visage, and 
a tranquil, but commanding eye. He waved his broad-leaved 
felt hat for silence, and then exclaimed, in language which 
has been almost literally preserved, ‘ What would ye, my 
friends t Why do ye murmur that we do not break our vows, 
and surrender the city to the Spaniards — a fate more horrible 
than the agony which she now endures. I tell you I have 
made an oath to hold the city, and may God give me strength 
to keep my oath ! I can die but once, whether by your hands, 
the enemy’s, or by the hand of God. My own fate is indifferent 
to me ; not so that of the city intrusted to my care. I know 
that we shall starve, if not soon relieved ; but starvation is 
better than the dishonoured death which is the only alternative. 
Your menaces move me not; my life is at your disposal; 
here is my sword, plunge it into my breast, and divide my 
flesh among you. Take my body to appease your hunger, 
but expect no surrender so long as I remain alive.’ 

“ The words of the stout burgomaster,” continues the his- 
torian,^ “ inspired new courage in the hearts of those who 
heard him ; and a shout of applause and defiance arose from 
the famished but enthusiastic crowd. They left the place, 
after exchanging new vows of fidelity with their magistrate, 
and again ascended tower and battlement to watch for the 
coming fleet. From the ramparts they hurled renewed de- 
fiance at the enemy. ‘Ye call us rat-eaters and dog-eaters,’ 
they cried ; ‘ and it is true. So long, then, as ye hear dog 
bark or cat mew within the walls, ye may know that the city 
holds out. And when all has perished but ourselves, be sure 

^ Motley — from whose work. The Rise of the Dutch Republic^ these and 
previous extracts have been borrowed, and are here, once for all, thankfully 
acknowledged. 


370 


Within Sea Walls, 


that we will each devour our left arms, retaining our right 
arms to defend our women, our liberty, and our religion, 
against the foreign tyrant. Should God, in His wrath, doom 
us to destruction, and deny us all relief, even then will we 
maintain ourselves against your entrance. When the last 
hour has come, with our own hands we will set fire to the 
city, and perish, men, women, and children together in the 
flames, rather than suffer our homes to be polluted and our 
liberties to be crushed.” 

It is impossible to read these passages of history without 
a feeling of sympathy with the sufferers, and of indignation 
against the cruel tyranny which had thus roused the spirit of 
an entire nation. Possibly, however, some, while reprobating 
the persecutors of this era, may also condemn the resistance 
offered by the persecuted, as being inconsistent with the spirit 
of the gospel. Be it so ; nevertheless, the shame and disgrace 
must mainly rest upon those who had so long trampled on the 
dearest rights of the people, and had found sweet music in the 
dying groans of countless martyrs of God. “ Woe unto the 
world because of offences,” said Christ ; “ for it must needs 
be that offences come ; but woe unto that man by whom the 
offence cometh.” Let it remembered also that much as the 
unhallowed passions sure to be engendered by “wars and 
fightings ” are to be deplored and deprecated, yet that, in the 
times of which we write, the best and holiest of men, with 
some exceptions, believed themselves to be justified in oppos- 
ing force to fraud, and resistance to murderous cruelty and 
wrong, especially where wrong was done to the souls of men. 
Without entering, however, upon the question as to how far 
the taking up of carnal weapons of warfare in defence of 
liberty of conscience and freedom from persecution is justifiable, 
we proceed with our narrative. 


Maris Extremity, 37 1 

The last day of September was come, and the defenders 
and perishing citizens of Leyden saw no nearer prospect of 
relief. They looked in vain from tower and rampart for the 
advance of the wind-retarded waters. The east wind still 
blew, and the fleet which they had looked for as their 
salvation was helplessly stranded on the distant fields. A 
few more days, or even hours, and their walls would enclose a 
city of the dead. It seemed to some, indeed, as though the 
wrath of the Almighty were being poured out to the utmost ; 
or as though His ear were heavy, that He could not hear His 
people's cry. His arm shortened, so that He could not save. 
And so, that night, they shut themselves up in their desolate 
dwellings, some to yield their hearts to despair, some to nerve 
themselves to the last stage of sullen endurance; some to 
exchange mutual embraces, almost, as they thought, for the 
last time, with the corpse-like wives and children, whose 
tearless (for the fount of tears in most was dried up) — death- 
pale, shrivelled countenances were but the images of their 
own; and some to supplicate with faith and energy which 
would not be denied, the mercy of their God and Saviour, or 
to prepare themselves for the last extremity of earthly misery, 
by a contemplation of the heavenly kingdom to which they 
were hastening. 

Of these last were the little group gathered now in one 
apartment of the house of Floris Franck. He himself was 
there, bent and bowed with the weakness of famine. The 
pastor of a neighbouring church was there; so was Paul 
Merula ; so were Margaret and her cousin Lysken, and the 
widow Van Muler, and nurse Ursel and Jan’s wife. There 
was room for all in the ex-merchant’s house ; and they had 
chosen to remain together, to encourage each other in prayer 
and hope. Nina was there, once more helpless on her couch 
of pain, but happier than those around her, in that the fever 


372 


Within Sea Walls, 


which still consumed her had so destroyed her bodily appetite, 
that had the daintiest viands been placed before her, she 
would have turned from them with loathing. 

Some belonging to that household were absent — Arnold- 
zoon, and the two young sons of Van Muler ; her little 
daughter was absent too, for she was numbered among the 
thousands of the dead ; but the others just mentioned were 
sharing in the watch of the city. 

They spent the night in prayer, in that apartment. The 
deep but tremulous voice of the minister rose with agonized 
fervour while he poured out supplications such as these : — 
“ Save us, O God ; for the waters of affliction are come in 
unto our soul. We sink in deep mire where there is np 
standing. Our eyes fail while we wait for our God I .... O 
Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do Thou it for 
Thy name’s sake ! O Hope of Israel, the Saviour thereof in 
time of trouble, why shouldst Thou be as a stranger in the 
land, — as a mighty man that cannot save ? Yet Thou, O 
Lord, art in the midst of us ; and we are called by that 
name ; — leave us not ! Art Thou not He, O Lord, our God ? 
Therefore we will wait upon Thee ; for Thou hast made all 
these things.” 

It was yet night, but morning was approaching — the dawn 
of the twenty-first of October. 

“Father.” The voice was Nina’s, soft and low. In a 
moment her father was by her side. 

“ It is coming,” she said ; “ I have felt it coming this hour 
past.” 

“ Darling Nina, no, no. This is but a fancy, springing from 
weakness. The physician tells us you will recover. This 
sickness is not unto death; only believe. Dear Nina, we 
shall yet, if God will, be happy together in this life, as well as 
in the life to come.” 


THE WIND BRINGS PROMISE OF DBLIVBRANCB» 











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Man's Extremity. 37^ 

It is not of death I spoke,” said Nina, smiling, " but of 
life. Open the casement, that it may enter.” 

“ Nay, but dear Nina, this east wind ” 

“ There is no longer an east wind, dear father.” 

“Nina is right!” cried Merula, with startling earnestness; 
“ I hear it in the creaking vane above ; the wind has changed ; 
it has been changing this hour, though I thought not of it.” 
In another moment the casement was open. 

And then came in a gentle fanning breeze from the south- 
west, right from the broad ocean miles away. 

“‘By His power He hath brought in His south wind,’” 
exclaimed the pastor. “ Let us pray ; let us pray ! ” 

» » « « 

Gentle at first, the soft south-west wind increased to a gale, 
from a gale to a tempest. All that day, and the next night 
and the next day, and the next night, the tempestuous wind 
blew. It was God s own breath. Driven by this, as surely 
as in His appointed time He drove back the waters of the 
Red Sea, that His people might pass over dry-shod, — so 
surely did the waters of the North Sea come pouring in upon 
the southern coast of Holland, rising in masses, higher and 
still higher. With irresistible force it widened the breaches in 
the pierced dykes, rushed in upon the land, advancing like a 
wall to where the stranded ships lay helpless. Higher, higher, 
higher up their sides 1 They are afloat now. Higher, still 
higher. God be praised ! Leyden will be saved ! 

« • • 

Let history tell the rest. 





CHAPTER XLVII. 

0ppi:irtuniti}» 

EYDEN was saved. Panic-stricken by the hand of 
God, the besiegers fled, hordes of them perishing 
in the fierce and turbid waters, even as the 
Egyptians had once perished in the Red Sea, 
and other hundreds dying by the weapons of the 
avengers. On, on went the fleet triumphantly. 
On the third of November, every canal in Leyden 
was covered with boats and vessels of the fleet ; 
and every quay was crowded with the famished 
multitudes of citizens. Bread, bread ! bread 
enough for all now, with more to come, and yet 
more ; and all the country around open to send 
in fresh supplies, if not by land, then by water. 
What mattered ! 

As to the Spaniards, they had vanished like a 
morning mist. Where were they ? None could 
tell then ; but, wherever they went, they troubled Leyden no 
more ; and ere five years had passed away, the Dutch had 
shaken off the broken fragments of the Spanish and popish 
yokes, and rejoiced in the civil and religious freedom they 
had won — God helping them. 



God's Opportunity, 377 

But though the fate of the besieging army was not at that 
time clearly known, traces of them were found in the ruins of 
their late encampments round about the city. “ In the head- 
quarters of the General Valdez, at Leydendorp, many plans of 
Leyden and the neighbourhood were found lying in confusion 
about the room. Upon the table was a hurried farewell of 
that general to the scenes of his late discomfiture, written in 
Latin, as follows ; — ‘ Vale civitas^ valete castelli parvi^ qui 
relicti estis propter aquam et non per vhn inimicorum In 
other words, — “ Farewell city ; farewell little towers, from which 
we are driven not by the power of man, but by that of 
the waters.” Nothing could be more true. It was not the 
hand of man, but the power of God in the waves of His 
sea which had brought to Him, and not to man, the victory. 

To return to Leyden. That many touching scenes were 
witnessed on those famine-crowded quays on that day, who 
can doubt ? “ The poor creatures,” writes the historian, “ who, 

for two months, had tasted no wholesome human food, and 
who had been, as it were, living within the jaws of death, 
snatched eagerly the blessed gifts, at last too liberally bestowed. 
Many choked themselves to death in the greediness with 
which they devoured their bread ; others became ill with the 
effects of plenty thus suddenly succeeding starvation. But 
these were isolated cases, a repetition of which was prevented.” 

Turning our thoughts then from these casualties, we dwell 
for a moment on the meeting between Lysken Arnoldzoon 
and her dear brother Karl, and that of Hans van Muler and 
his widowed mother. Floris Franck, too, and his daughter 
Margaret are there, and the advocate, whose name has often 
been mentioned in our story. See, then, from the deck of the 
Peter and Paul,” as it touches the quay to disburden itself of 
its load of provision, spring the two young seamen, and follow- 
ing them closely, though with less elastic step, the pastor 


Within Sea Walls, 


378 

Junius. And then, before bread be eaten, see the re-united 
group bending together beneath heaven’s canopy in prayer 
and thanksgiving too deep and too high for human utterance, 
« « » « « 

And then, when the famished multitudes had been fed, and 
their keenest pangs of hunger assuaged, arose a cry, — “ To 
the church! to the church!” And ere many minutes had 
passed away a solemn procession was formed. The admiral 
of the fleet, with the heroic burgomaster of Leyden, headed 
it ; then followed magistrates, burghers, sailors, soldiers, wild 
savage Zealanders, citizens of every rank, women, children, — 
all pressed on, on to the great church of Leyden. There, in its 
crowded body and chancel, its aisles and galleries, wherever 
standing place could be made, “the starving and heroic 
city, which had been so firm in its resistance to an earthly 
tyrant, now bent itself in humble gratitude before the King 
of kings.” 

“ After prayers,” we are told, “ the whole vast congregation 
joined in the thanksgiving hymn. Thousands of voices raised 
the song, but few were able to carry it to its conclusion, for 
the universal emotion, deepened by the music, became too full 
for utterance. The hymn was abruptly suspended, while the 
multitude wept like children;” — for, blessed be God, they 
could weep now. 



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